Seeing a Large Cat
by Shadowfax
Summary: In Egypt, to dream of a cat is considered good luck. Dragged to a distant land, the Soumas start loosing their minds to an ancient influence and Kyou must face up to his worst fear or watch as they all perish.
1. Into the Land of the Sun

Inspired by the novel _Seeing a Large Cat_ by Elizabeth Peters. I do not own _Fruits Basket_. Based on the anime; takes place after the series. Eventual SPOILERS for the anime! This is a work of fiction- by that I mean do not attempt to learn anything factual from it, particularly about Egypt or its ancient culture! I had to change some things to make them fit…  
Rated for language, and mild violence/fantasy action.  
Enjoy.

* * *

"Seeing a Large Cat"

"Good Gad, there ought to be safety in numbers,  
but with this family one cannot depend on anything."  
- Emerson, _Seeing a Large Cat_

-  
1  
Into the Land of the Sun  
-

Hatori's eyelids fluttered as he pulled his mind back into the conscious realm. It took him a few moments to process his surroundings; much longer than it should have, which the abstract medical portion of his mind noted was a side effect of many sedatives. As was his dry mouth and moist palms, though he would admit that those could have been produced by the abnormally high temperature of the room in which he sat. No, not a room- the main cabin of an airplane. Ayame was seated next to him, apparently still unconscious; he shook the snake by the shoulder, but received no response, not even a snore. Hatori remembered now that Shigure was in front of them, though he could not see the dog at the moment, and the others were scattered throughout the Souma private jet: Kagura, Hatsuharu, Momiji, and Yuki.

He put his hand to his head and rubbed his temples. They were supposed to be on their way to... The answer supplied itself surprisingly easily. They were on their way to visit a member of the clan who was dying. A very influential member, bedridden, with one request before he passed on. Akito had summoned them, Hatori remembered, and said that they couldn't wait for the other five. They had left immediately, in all haste. They must have arrived, for Hatori could hear that the plane's engines had stopped. He pushed himself up out of his seat, clinging to it for balance, and again wondered why it was so infernally _hot_. He made his way toward the front of the plane and the door, passing other seats and their unconscious occupants along the way. Something was wrong, he had a very strong feeling, but his thoughts were still too muddled to process exactly what it was.

He reached the front door of the cabin. The door was halfway open; he pushed it all the way and stepped into the antechamber, but paused when his foot kicked against something. He looked down to see what it was and found a leg, a very familiar one, but blinking and shaking his head were not helping him to discover the name of its owner. So his eyes followed the leg up to the body that went with it, and he continued blinking in an attempt to figure out what Kyou was doing here. That was definitely not right, nor was Tohru lying next to him. Looking at the peaceful smile on her face reminded him of something, and with the return of _that_ memory his eyes narrowed and his lip curled. Stepping over the pair, he made his way to the outer door. He found the door already open. It hung loosely on its hinges, creaking in the hottest breeze Hatori had ever felt in his life. Shielding his eyes against the intense glare of the sun, he stepped out of the plane and found himself standing on sand.

The sand stretched as far as he could see, beyond the horizon; sand and dirt and rock. The sun was setting off to his right, the giant orb pouring heat down on him like an autumn rain. But not far away, crouched on a rocky outcropping, was the object of his quest. "Harakhte!" he snarled, and made his way unsteadily toward the man. Upon hearing his voice, the figure jumped up and turned toward him. Looking in the eyes of the other man, Hatori paused a moment.

"Welcome! Oh my cousin, you are well-come to my country!" Harakhte leapt up and made as if to embrace Hatori, but a warning gesture from the dragon stopped him. Harakhte grinned, and the sunlight reflecting off his deep brown eyes lighted the depths with a mad yellow light.

"What is going on?" Hatori's patience was already thin, and threads of fear were working into his annoyance. A sound behind him made him turn; Shigure was standing in the doorway to the plane. He looked angry and annoyed as well, though not unduly surprised at their situation, which in itself did not surprise Hatori. Shigure had had suspicions about the mysterious "Harakhte" since the man had presented himself to them at the plane, introducing himself as a distant cousin. Well, Hatori had not been favorably impressed either; the gleam in the man's eyes when he had seen Tohru and the possessive smile he had bestowed upon her when he had met her as she had come to bid the others farewell, had not set well with the dragon.

Shigure advanced toward where Hatori and Harakhte stood and gripped the dragon's shoulder, a gesture which was not lost on Harakhte, even in the semi-ecstatic state he seemed to be in, and the stranger's eyes narrowed slightly. "Akito-san will not be pleased that you have abducted us," Shigure growled at him. "He does not allow people to trifle with his family."

To Hatori's surprise, Harakhte laughed. "Do you think I do not know that? That I would not have researched my target as much as was possible? That I would not know every consequence before I acted on this, what is the most important day of my life? Of the life of my entire clan?" A chill ran through Hatori's blood, as a suspicion that had been half formed in the back of his mind solidified. Harakhte's smile spread across his face, and again seemed to bring out the golden depths of his eyes. "Akito-sama _granted_ me permission to, ah, 'borrow,' his family for a few days. And after all, are you not my family as well?" Brought out of the shock induced by Harakhte's announcement, Shigure growled and lunged at the other man.

Hatori grabbed Shigure by the front of his shirt, preventing him from attacking. As much as he wanted to do the same, they were stranded in a strange place and Harakhte was the only one who knew where they were- and how to get them home again. Hatori was painfully aware of the lives of the people still on the aircraft, lives he was responsible for. "Shigure," he murmured warningly. But Shigure's mind was following the same line of thought. He stepped back, pulled himself free of Hatori's grasp, and, with a glare thrown at Harakhte, went back to the plane.

Standing across from the strange disruptive man, who was still grinning like a madman, Hatori took a deep breath and glanced at the sun which balanced precariously on the horizon. It would soon be set, and that thought made the wind that suddenly whipped across his face seemed instantly to be colder. That may have been his imagination, but he knew that the desert night would soon become incredibly cold. He glared at Harakhte. "There must be some shelter nearby or you would not have brought us here." The man's grin made resisting the urge to hit him very difficult. "Other explanations can wait. The others require food and warmth."

Realizing that that was all he was going to get in the way of Hatori asking him for help, and that the next such "request" would probably be accompanied by a bit less politeness and a great deal more pain, Harakhte nodded and gestured for Hatori to precede him back to the downed airplane. "Come then, dragon. We will wake those we can and carry the others. You are correct in saying that shelter is what is most needed at this time, and it would be better if we were under it before true night is upon us." Hatori's eyes narrowed further at Harakhte's familiar address, but questions could wait he reminded himself. And how he would enjoy getting answers when the time came…

Inside the plane, Shigure was attempting to waken the others but meeting with frustration. Kagura was blinking groggily, and so was Haru, but the others stubbornly clung to unconsciousness. "Carry him," Hatori said, touching Shigure on the shoulder as the dog gently shook Ayame. Shigure nodded and slung his friend over his shoulder before moving to the exit of the plane, shooting Harakhte a dark look as he went. Suiting his own actions to his words, Hatori went to the back of the plane and lifted Yuki in his arms. He scanned the room to make sure no one had been forgotten. Haru stood close behind him holding Momiji up with his arm under the rabbit's shoulders. Hatori nodded at him to follow Shigure, and as they exited they ran into Kagura and Harakhte staring at each other in the antechamber. Kyou and Tohru lay on the floor between them and something suddenly occurred to Hatori; none of them could carry Tohru, except Harakhte. His lip curled at the thought, especially with the way the man was looking at Tohru. Apparently the same thing had occurred to Kagura; she appeared to be vacillating between throwing Kyou over her shoulder and leaving Tohru to Harakhte's tender mercies or saving her friend and trusting that her love could take care of himself. Or, as her slightly maddened expression suggested as she stared down Harakhte with all traces of the sedative washed away, she would let her fists tell Harakhte _exactly_ what she thought of him, carry her friend and her future husband, and to hell with their guide.

"Kagura," Hatori said, and he was surprise when she actually looked at him. He hadn't really thought that he'd be able to reach her with the state she was in. "Take Tohru." He shot a look at Harakhte, who smiled innocently. The expression was as out of place on him as gills on a bird. He bent down to scoop Kyou into his arms then meekly went to the front of the group to lead the way.

Hatori growled under his breath and exchanged glances with Shigure. He hated having to rely on this man who had proved to be nothing but deceitful, in addition to being more than a little insane, but they really had no other choice at the moment. The darkness of the desert night closed around them swiftly and it was fortunate that their destination was even closer than Hatori had thought it would be, since if it was much further they would never have found it; even with their guide, they could have walked right by it in the dark.

It was a small village, spread out in a pocket that was hidden between two huge sand dunes and an outcropping of rock. The villagers stared at them as they went past; they made some sort of hand gesture that was unfamiliar to Hatori as Harakhte passed them. It looked like a gesture of respect and he wondered sourly what it was Harakhte had done to earn their respect, or if this was just a culture that placed some sort of religious protection on madmen. The people and their manner of dress were unfamiliar, as was the language they whispered to each other as the group passed; that combined with the climate served to reinforce to Hatori that they were not in Japan.

Harakhte brought them to a building that looked to be the largest in the village and showed them a group of rooms next to each other. Oil lamps burned bravely against the darkness on low tables and beds lined the walls. "You may rest the night here." He lay Kyou down on one of the beds. Kyou stirred as Harakhte released him but did not waken. A yellow gleam seemed to shine forth from the strange man's eyes as he looked at Kyou, but it disappeared so quickly Hatori thought he must have imagined it. "In the morning many things will be explained, hmm?" With one last wild grin at the suspicious faces which regarded him, Harakhte stepped backward through the doorway and disappeared into the night.

Shigure stepped forward and deliberately closed the heavy curtain which hung across the portal and served as a door. He turned to Hatori and his eyes blazed with suppressed fury. Hatori nodded at him absently and turned to the younger Soumas. The suite Harakhte had shown them consisted of three rooms; Kagura had taken Tohru to the smallest, innermost one and pointedly shut the curtain against her male relatives. In the second room Momiji sat on the edge of one of the beds blinking slowly, seemingly unable to decide if he should continue to try to wake up or just go back to sleep. Hatori pushed him gently down so that he was lying on the bed and his eyes closed in final surrender of the battle. Haru lay across one of the other beds, and Yuki's still form was where Hatori had placed him on the third bed. His stillness worried Hatori; he looked as if he was carved of stone in the dim light that filtered in from the first room. He touched Yuki's cheek to reassure himself that the boy was still warm and alive before he stepped back out into the first room. Ayame and Kyou lay on two of the beds here, and Shigure was pacing violently across the small room.

"Shigure," Hatori said tiredly and his old friend turned to look at him. They knew each other so well that almost an entire conversation passed in that one word and that look. Shigure gritted his teeth, and with a sigh of anger he nodded at Hatori.

"I do not believe I can wait until tomorrow to kill him," Shigure said conversationally as he sat on the edge of one of the empty beds. Hatori did not respond as he all but collapsed onto the other. He reached over and extinguished the lamp, the room fading into darkness. A long moment stretched between them. "Ha-san," Shigure whispered after a moment.

He sighed. "I know. Sleep, Shigure."

Whether or not Shigure responded he had no idea; the moment he closed his eyes this time, unconsciousness stole over him.

-

His next thought was of light and warmth. It was washing over him, swallowing him. Hatori opened his eyes. Light was everywhere. It blinded him at first, until his eyes adjusted. He had slept deeply; far more deeply that he would have thought possible, and much more deeply than he would have had he had any choice in the matter. Who knew what could have happened while he lay there… He rolled over and pushed himself to a sitting position. Blinking, he looked around the room. Shigure was gone, Kyou as well. Ayame was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, his whole body shaking.

Hatori went to him. Kneeling beside the snake, he turned his face up so that Ayame was looking at him. "What is it?" he asked softly.

Ayame shook his head. "That voice," he mumbled.

Before Hatori could question him further, Kagura appeared in the door. She had a look on her face; as if she had misplaced something he had entrusted to her and now feared a reprimand. But he hadn't given her anything… Wait. He rose from his kneeling position and pushed past Kagura. In the next room Haru and Momiji were sitting beside each other on one of the beds. Yuki was nowhere to be seen. Hatori pushed through to the inner room. Tohru was not there.

He went back to Kagura. She was sitting on one of the empty beds looking up at him, fear in her eyes. Not of him, but for her own failure and what it might mean.

"Sometime during the night," she said. "When I woke up, she was gone. And her socks and coat are still where I put them when I put her to bed. Her shoes are gone; I think he took them too." She looked up at Hatori, asking him with her gaze to tell her that everything was going to be alright.

He took a deep breath. "Where are the others?" he asked first.

"Kyou-kun went to look for her. Yun-chan, too. I don't know about Sensei."

"I am here," Shigure came in through the door. "I went for a walk," he said, half in jest, but when he saw their faces he sobered immediately. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Tohru is gone."

-


	2. Hara begs an Audience of Ra

"_I am Horus, who loveth thee.  
__I come to avenge thee, O Osiris,  
__upon him that did evil unto thee.  
__I have set him under thy feet for ever and for ever,  
__permanently, permanently,  
__O Osiris, whose word is truth,  
__whose word is truth."  
__- **The Book of the Dead**_

-  
2  
"Horus Begs an Audience of Ra"/ Seeing a Large Cat  
-

_Five days ago…_

"Shinpi Harakhte." The man bowed before Akito. "A very distant relative. I believe you received my letter?" The man's eyes flickered as he glanced up at the Souma family head from his inclined position. He licked his lips. "Horus begs an audience of Ra," he said, his voice soft but clear. "Now that the time is near."

"Well." Akito's voice was like smoke, soft but cloying. "You say you are a relative?" His tone was an equal mix of detached amusement and boredom, but the glint in his eyes betrayed his interest.

"Very distant, Souma-san." Harakhte repeated, before sinking to his knees before the head of the Souma clan. "My grandmother was the illegitimate daughter of a man whose father had been a Souma. Her mother, and a great deal of my other relatives as you may be able to tell, was Arabic."

Perceiving the veiled insult in the words, Akito's lip curled. Harakhte continued swiftly; it would not do for Akito to become insulted already- there was still much to be said. "But that is not what I came to discuss with you. I am sure you are aware that this is the Year of the Cat. In the Egyptian calendar, of course."

The curl turned into a sneer. "You took great pains to bring that to my attention. When was the first letter, Harakhte? Several months ago?" Hara did not miss the informal address. Well, two could play this game.

"Souma-san's memory is excellent," Hara bowed with exaggerated deference to counter Akito's impoliteness. "It was indeed almost eight months ago now that Hara first contacted you. I… I have been searching for longer than that." His eyes met Akito's, the weight of years beyond his face suddenly behind them. "Much longer. It was only recently that I had thought to look so far from my homeland. I thought that perhaps if blood could travel one way, it could travel the other."

Akito hissed softly, breaking eye contact. "What is it you want?"

"Him." Hara's eyes almost glowed with anticipation. "And as many of the others as you can give me. The more the better, for the ceremony, but he is all I need." Akito turned away to observe the birds fluttering in the bathing dish set up for them, feigning a disinterest in the conversation. Harakhte waited. He had come a long way; he could afford to be patient. He also turned his eyes toward the birds cleaning themselves busily in the water.

"This is my family you are speaking of so carelessly Shinpi Harakhte," Akito said suddenly. "I am responsible for overseeing their lives." He slid a sly glance toward Hara, but paused when he once again met the other man's eyes.

Harakhte whipped his face around at the sound of Akito's voice, tearing his eyes from the birds, but as he locked his eyes with the other man's, they shown brightly golden, strong with some strange emotion. "Their lives," he breathed slowly, as if tasting the words. He shivered and leaned back wrapping his arms around himself. "There is only one constant in life, as you should well know Souma Akito," Hara half-chanted the words, holding Akito spellbound in his gilded gaze. "And that…" He fell forward, catching himself on his hands. "That," he hissed, crouched in front of Akito like a bird ready to spring up into the sky and take flight. "And that, Souma Akito, is pain. Give them to me, and I will teach them." His voice calmed slightly from its frenzied hiss, but his eyes were still bright. "I will teach them."

Akito smiled, the expression sliding across his face like oil through water, and looked upon his visitor as one who has found a soulmate. "Then, Shinpi-san, they are yours for the teaching."

-

_Present day._

Tohru was having the strangest dream. It involved a cat, a very large one, and it was flying an airplane, but that couldn't be right…

She woke up, feeling hot and thinking that she should go and open the window. Opening her eyes, she was half blinded by the light. Blinking, she adjusted to it and realized that she was in what appeared to be a room, the walls of which were made of mud. She was sitting on the edge of a bed, where she had been sleeping until she had woken up the moment before. Looking around the small room she was in, her eyes wide in wonder, she saw a man sitting in a chair across the room from her bed. He was older than her, she thought, but not by too much, though he had a look in his eye that made him look much older. It reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place her finger on whom that was.

"Oh!" she said. "I'm sorry, sir, but… where am I?"

He smiled at her, in what seemed to her to be a somewhat inappropriate manner. "You are a guest in my house," he replied openly. He appeared honest enough. And though he looked foreign, his accent was perfect. On second thought there was nothing inappropriate about the way he smiled. He was probably just glad she was awake.

"Oh," she repeated, her forehead creased with thought. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't seem to remember how I came here. Or," she blushed and mumbled, "your name, sir."

"That is because you were unconscious when you came here. And my name is Harakhte."

"Wh…What?" Tohru jumped up from the bed. She wasn't wearing shoes; they were sitting next to the bed. Her mind was caught in a momentary paralysis as she tried to decide if she should put them on or not; she was inside, but the floors were made of dirt…

"Please!" Harakhte made a calming gesture. "I will explain everything, and I promise there is good reason for all I've done, and I will take you to your companions, but first… come with me."

"Companions?" Her brow furrowed further. She decided to put the shoes on; the ground was hot. One decision made, she slipped them on as she tried to piece together exactly where she was and who could possibly be here with her. "Souma-kun?"

"Yes," he replied, then smirked. "Though I'm not sure exactly who you are referring to, I think it can be safely said that he is here."

She thought harder. She remembered the airport. "Kyou-kun," she murmured as she thought, her eyes closed tightly with the effort of remembering. "He came with me, and we were seeing the others off…"

Harakhte sighed in fond exasperation. "Very well I will explain briefly, but then you must come with me. I have brought you here to my home in Egypt, you and many of your friends among the Souma family. I brought you here to help me. I am in desperate need of this help, and, forgive me for being rude, I could not ask more politely and risk being denied." She nodded, listening with wide eyes to his words as things began to make more sense. A little more sense anyway. She was still alone in a strange room with a man she only vaguely remembered meeting.

"Now, come with me." He stood and held out a hand toward her, the other holding the door, which, she could see, was a hanging cloth rather than any of the sliding or hinged varieties, to one side so that she could go through it. She looked at him nervously, but something in her told her she could trust him. So she did.

She walked over to the door and went out into the sunshine of the day. The air out here moved, which was a slight relief from the heat of the room she had just left. She stood for a long moment, looking around her at the village. The people moved about, busy with the tasks of the day. Harakhte came out of the door as well and stepped around her. After awhile he cleared his throat. "If you please Honda-san. There is time, but not such a great deal."

She blushed. "I'm sorry Harakhte-san!" She hurried after him as he started off toward the edge of the busy town. The people they passed seemed to respect Harakhte very much; as he passed by them, they bowed their heads. Tohru looked around her with large eyes, taking in everything she could without taking the time to stop. Harakhte lead her to a cave in the side of a huge rock that thrust out from the sand that surrounded it on all sides. She ducked through the fairly small opening and once inside she stared around her in wonder. The chamber was filled with light. It was much larger than she had thought it could be from the small opening. A statue stood in the center of the room; Harakhte stood before it, his head bowed respectfully. The statue was of a man with the head of a hawk, though his face seemed distorted; a great cat sat by his side, its head under his hand. With a soft, "Ooooh…" she moved toward the statue. Once she was closer she could see the face more clearly and realized why it had looked strange at first. The statue had no eyes. Or, rather, it had an image of the sun in one eye socket; the other was empty. Tohru felt a strange feeling as she looked at the statue's one eye. The eye pulled at her, drawing her into it until she thought she would fall into it and keep falling without any end. Not that it would be bad to do so. Beauty lay there, in that eye of gold, and she could keep falling forever and ever…

Harakhte grabbed her by the shoulder and she started suddenly. "I'm sorry," she murmured, shaking her head to clear it of the strange feeling that had passed over her. Glancing up at Harakhte she saw he was looking at her with that same look he had had earlier. It was rather disconcerting, and she was glad when he looked away and changed the subject.

He drew her attention to the walls of the chamber. The statue had drawn her eyes to it when she first entered the room, but now she saw the walls were painted with scenes. Many of them were scenes of people going about their lives, but in the center of the wall going all around the room there were panels that were separate. She stood before one just to the side of the doorway through which she and Harakhte had entered.

"That is Hathor." She jumped; she had not known Harakhte was right behind her. He smiled at her when she looked at him and continued to explain the painting. "Hathor is an important deity to my people." He gestured to the long horns curving up from the god's head. "He is usually represented as having the head of a cow, his favored animal. Though very gentle in most things, he is not one whom you would wish to anger."

He took a step back and gestured to the other side of the door. The painting there depicted a wild boar ravaging some hapless miscreant. "Taueret," he said. "Together, they guard the doorway to the temple of Horus."

"Horus?" Tohru repeated. She glanced back at the statue. Harakhte smiled thinly then directed her attention back to the walls.

"See here Anubis, messenger from the other world. Thoth, god of wisdom. Apep, serpent of the underworld." His lip curled when he spoke the last name; obviously not a friend, Tohru thought. She was slightly dizzy, as Harakhte had whisked her around the room showing the paintings to her in no particular order. But he stopped her in front of the wall directly opposite from the doorway.

She looked up at the painting here, and shivered as a strange feeling washed over her. It must be just her imagination, but she thought the eyes… the eyes painted on the wall stared back at her… The painting was of a woman, and beside her was a man. Their hands were clasped and the fondness on her face as she looked at him was easy to see even though she was not painted with much detail.

"Isis," Harakhte breathed, his voice reverent. "And Osiris, King of the Dead. Her husband." Tohru's eyes were fixated on the painting, so she didn't see the look Harakhte gave her. "Isis is the queen of all the gods. She is honored for her skill in healing and how she shares this skill with mankind." He smiled down at the head of the woman in front of him. "Also, for her devotion to Osiris after Set…" He was about to continue but the sound of someone entering the chamber stopped him and made him turn. Yuki stood in the doorway. The eyes he fixed on Harakhte were suspicious.

"Honda-san," he said.

She tore her eyes from the painting and turned to look at him. "Souma-kun!"

"Are you alright, Honda-san?"

"Yes, yes!" she assured him quickly smiling at him brightly. "Harakhte-san was just showing me this temple of his people."

"Of course." Yuki leveled a pointed glare at Harakhte.

The man merely smiled. "It is time we were returning anyway, Honda-san." He bowed to her and made no move to touch her as she preceded Yuki out of the doorway.

Once outside, Tohru turned to Yuki. "Who else is here? Harakhte-san said that he had brought you too, but…" Her voice trailed off, the dreamlike quality that had pervaded her morning faded and the reality of what exactly was going on struck her more forcefully. She wanted to hold Yuki's hand.

She was surprised when she felt a hand slip into hers. She held it tightly. "We didn't know where you were," Yuki whispered. He wasn't looking at her, but she could hear the slight tremble in his voice that betrayed his worry.

"I'm alright," she said brightly. She didn't want anyone worrying about _her_.

He turned and smiled at her. She smiled back. "I'm glad to see that." He turned his eyes back to the path in front of him. "To answer your question, there are nine of us here. You, myself, Hatori-san, Shigure, Momiji, Kagura, Haru, Nii-san, and that stupid cat." His gaze was angry. "According to Hatori, this 'Harakhte' claims to be related to the Souma family, though how he knows about…" His voice trailed off. "You should not be alone with him," he began again, shooting a concerned glance at her.

She nodded. That was true, but… "For some reason, I don't think he will hurt me," she confided.

Yuki looked doubtful, but nodded in acknowledgment of her admission. "Still," he persuaded, "try not to. Please?"

He was very worried. She could see it in his eyes. She nodded. "Yes. I will." He smiled at her, and she had to return the gesture.

They were coming back to the village now, and Tohru could see Kyou coming toward them.

-

What the hell was going on? Kyou didn't like it. Not one damn bit. He wasn't exactly used to being included on family outings, and waking up in the damned heat in a place that was obviously not his home with unconscious family members strewn around him had not been his idea of fun. Nevermind the fact that he'd had the most annoyingly insidious headache ever since he'd seen that man at the airport.

That man. Haru said his name was Harakhte. Apparently this was where he was from. Well, Kyou didn't give a shit about that. What the hell were _they_ doing here? And most especially- what the hell were he and Tohru doing here?

Maybe that bugged him more than being forcibly abducted onto an airplane and taken god only knows where and the fact that he couldn't _damnit_ think with the pounding in his head. That Tohru had been forced into this too… And then she had vanished from under their noses. If that psycho had done all of this to get at Tohru… Kyou couldn't properly say what would happen to the filth, because it was something so awful he hadn't thought of it yet.

He was both relieved and annoyed when he saw her walking with Yuki. Of course that damn rat had to be the one to find her. The sun was making Kyou's head hurt so bad that he could barely see, let alone think about trying to look for someone.

"Kyou-kun?" Tohru's hand touched his arm. "Are you alright?"

"Head hurts," he mumbled, shrugging off her concern. Refusing to look at the pair made him notice the person trailing after them. It was that damn ma… He stopped. _Harakhte_, his mind supplied, and suddenly, with that thought, the headache was gone.

Later, he couldn't remember what he said to Yuki and Tohru but it must have been something that made them not worry about him any more, because when he started following Harakhte as the man walked away into the desert no one tried to stop him.

-


	3. Seth and his Brother

"When I am in one of my philosophical moods,  
I am inclined to wonder whether all families are as difficult as mine."  
- Amelia, _The Golden One_

-  
3  
Seth and His Brother  
-

"It's Ayame."

"What about him?"

"He's gone."

Yuki felt a chill pass through him at Shigure's words. He might not care too much for his brother, but there was something going on here that was not quite right and Yuki wanted nothing more than for all of them to get back on a plane and go home. However, all of them meant _all_ of them, and currently Ayame wasn't the only one missing.

"Hatori-san disappeared," he informed Shigure. The dog's eyes darkened as Yuki continued. "One minute he was here with Momiji and Haru, and then he walked outside and no one has seen him since. And…" He shifted his feet and glanced around warily. "Something is going on. I feel… strange." It sounded weak and childish when he said it aloud, but it had felt like it needed to be said.

Shigure surprised him by nodding. "I feel it too. Like there's someone talking to me in the back of my head…" His voice trailed off, then he shook his head violently as if attempting to dislodge the voice. That wouldn't work; Yuki had tried it.

Their helplessness in the situation galled him, and Yuki turned away from Shigure to glare evilly at the wall, seeing in it an image of the absent Harakhte. He had never wanted to _do_ something so badly in all his life. But… what? They had no idea where they were. The only thing that could be confirmed was that the desert stretched away as far as the eye could see in all directions. The people of the town spoke only their native language and pretended to misunderstand any attempts at speaking to them with simple hand signs. The only transportation in the village was an ancient car that had no fuel and a trio of camels who had to be the most disagreeable beasts in the history of the world. And their airplane, still sitting on the other side of one of the giant dunes, slowly being swallowed by the desert; Harakhte was the only one who could fly it. Yuki felt justified in saying that he would die before ever again climbing into an airplane that was in the _vicinity_ of that man, much less piloted by him.

The only good thing was that he had seen almost nothing of Kyou since they had woken up after their landing two days ago. The cat spent almost all of his time with Harakhte. Whether or not that was good was debatable, but it kept Harakhte away from Tohru and Kyou away from both her _and_ Yuki. Any costs could not outweigh the benefits. And he was slightly envious; at least the damn cat was _doing_ something. If only Yuki could stand Harakhte's presence long enough to speak with the man. It might alleviate the tension.

He gritted his teeth in frustration. "I'm going out," he said to Shigure shortly as he stepped out of the door. He was halfway around the building before Shigure had a chance to respond.

Yuki slipped around the side of the building, away from the village. He climbed the side of the sand dune and sat for a few moments. He hated it here, and it wasn't just the feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed him at times. Something about this place… The vast emptiness of it, the lack of vegetation or any kind of life in the huge expanse of sand with the heat that rose off of it and battered against anyone it could find like the waves of the ocean, though infinitely less refreshing… He should go inside. It wasn't good to sit out in the sun for long periods. But inside meant people, though fewer people than they'd started with.

Yuki sighed. He had the feeling that the worst hadn't happened yet. He stood up to go back down to the village when something caught his eye. A movement, down near the foot of the dune, around on the side away from the village. It looked like a person… He knew who it was. That long, white hair was unmistakable. "Nii-san," he called as he made his way down, relief he hadn't known he could feel filling his heart. "Shigure said you had disappeared." He came to a sliding halt in a spray of sand next to where Ayame was standing.

His brother did not acknowledge him at all. He simply stood there, looking out at the desert as if in it he saw the image of something he loved. "Nii-san?" Yuki said again. He reached out to touch Ayame on the sleeve, but before he could the snake suddenly seemed to realize he was there.

Ayame turned to look at Yuki. His eyes seemed darker than Yuki remembered them being before. In fact, the man who stood before him didn't really look a whole lot like his brother at all. He began to draw back, but suddenly Ayame spoke.

"Brother." The word sounded strange coming from Ayame's mouth, as if he had never said it before- as if he had never spoken anything before and was learning the sounds of the words. He was acting very strange, and Yuki had just decided to go and get Shigure when Ayame held out his hand to him. Hesitantly, Yuki reached out and took it, intending to lead his sun dazzled brother back to the village.

Something sharp pricked his wrist. He snatched his hand away and bent his head to examine it. Two holes, like pinpricks, dotted his wrist. Yuki glared up at his brother. Ayame stood there, his hand still outstretched, and curled around his wrist was a snake. It flicked its tongue at Yuki and hissed softly.

Yuki stared in disbelief as the strength slowly left his body and he fell to his knees and then face down in the sand. He dimly felt Ayame pick up his body and carry him somewhere, but his fading consciousness knew nothing beyond that.

-

Haru was keeping an admirable reign on his temper. Of course it helped that he was mostly sticking around Momiji. The rabbit was calming, despite his general excess of kinetic energy. Everyone was agitated about what had happened, being abducted by the mysterious Harakhte, and Haru knew it wouldn't take much to set him off. Going black wouldn't solve anything. He remembered Hatori telling him to try and stay calm, and to keep an eye on Momiji as well as Tohru.

Tohru was taking him and Momiji to see the temple. Or at least that was what she said Harakhte had called it; glancing at the entrance, Haru couldn't see why you would keep a temple in a rock. On the subject of Harakhte, he seemed to have disappeared and Kyou with him. No one had seen anything of them for almost two days. The strangest thing about that, was that no one really seemed to be worried. Well, Hatori and Shigure were, but Kagura wasn't. Or if she was, she wasn't letting anyone know about it, which was just as uncharacteristic for her. She spent most of her time with Tohru, who retained her strange trust of Harakhte. Tohru maintained that the strange man meant them no harm, but could not find anyone who would agree with her.

Haru tried not to think about it. A strange feeling filled him, the feeling that it was not yet time for him to think about such things. Now was a time for dancing and laughter, said a musical voice in the back of his head. Soon it would be time for anger, but not yet. So he smiled at Tohru and followed her into the dark cave. Once inside he noticed it was far lighter than it was outside. Outside, over the desert to the east, there was a storm brewing. But here, in the temple- for that really was the only word that could describe this space- everywhere was light. Haru noticed Momiji looking upward and followed his gaze; no electricity or earthly fire of any kind lit the temple, only the sun's own light, reflected back and forth by mirrors which were angled properly to direct the waning light to the maximum efficiency.

The statue in the center seemed to glow with its own inner light. Haru was struck with a sense of familiarity when he looked at it. Horus… A part of him _knew_ that name. His eyes drifted past the statue to the far wall. Osiris. Another name that was familiar to him, though his conscious brain wondered where he'd pulled it from. It was the name of someone… dear to him. Infinitely dear.

A strange chill passed through him. Something bad was happening… but Haru was unable to move. After what seemed a long moment, he wrenched his eyes away from the wall paintings and glanced at Momiji. He noticed that the rabbit's eyes were glowing, and he wondered absently if his were too.

"Hatsuharu-san? Momiji-kun?"

Haru glanced up at the sound of Tohru's voice. He must have faded out for a moment there. "What is it?"

"Oh nothing!" she said hurriedly. "You just looked strange there for a minute. I didn't mean to disturb you if you were enjoying the art or something!"

"No," Momiji's voice was uncharacteristically solemn. "We should go back now. There is a storm coming in." He glanced at the thin sliver of the horizon visible through the doorway. "And it will be night soon."

"Ah, yes," Tohru agreed. With a sudden smile, Momiji grabbed her arm and Haru followed them as they went back to the village.

-

It was like a novel. One that he should have written, Shigure thought. Maybe he had already done so, but the plot was too neat to be anything else. Harakhte had planned every move from the start, and that crazy man had some kind of help because the damn voice in his head would _not_ shut up. Shigure snarled softly to himself as he paced the darkened room, alone with his black thoughts.

Everything was proceeding according to plan, the voice said. Everything was going to be alright. What about Ayame? Hatori, Yuki, Kyou? They were all missing, along with Harakhte. What about them, Shigure asked the voice. Where _were_ they? Not in the village. He'd looked. In every little hut, despite protests and with the help of the two village curs who'd been only too ready to lend a nose. Nothing.

"Shi-san."

He stopped pacing and looked up. Kagura was standing in the doorway. She looked hurt and confused, but also frustrated and angry. Not too far away from where Shigure was at the moment. "What is it?"

She shrugged uncomfortably, but he sensed what it was she was looking for. "Come here," he said as he sat on the edge of one of the beds. She came and sat beside him and looked up at him.

"What's going to happen?" she asked, almost unwillingly.

He sighed and placed an arm around her shoulder. "I don't know," he said honestly. "This Harakhte has something planned, and it seems to be happening without any aid from us and despite our rather pathetically unorganized attempts to prevent it." His words were serious, but his voice was flippant and she responded to it with a small smile. He continued, his tone becoming more serious. "Kagura-chan, whatever happens…"

"I know," she said. She turned to smile at him. "I… I'm scared. Mostly for Kyou-kun though." Her face grew dark. "I do not like this Harakhte," she stated firmly.

"You are not alone in that sentiment," Shigure agreed. He gave her a quick hug. She pulled away and stood up, seemingly stronger from the quick contact. He smiled to himself. The curse didn't mean they didn't need to be touched; it just made them look for comfort more from each other rather than trusting in the outside world.

Kagura looked up, hearing something outside. "Tohru-chan and the others are back," she called to Shigure, going out to meet them.

She didn't look back, didn't see Shigure sitting on the edge of the bed shivering uncontrollably. The voice… He looked up. There was a shape standing in the doorway. It cocked its head to one side and lolled its tongue out at him, wagging its tail in recognition. He blinked bleary eyes at it, rising from the bed, staggering toward it. Whippet thin body and tail moved off into the darkness, entreating him to follow. Why not? It would be fun! He'd always enjoyed a good time. As he walked out into the night his steps became more sure, the way clearer even in the dark. A smile pulled at his lips. This was the life! Now, the only thing he needed was someone to show the way to and his night would be complete. Hmm, speaking of…

Ahead of him stood two shapes outlined to his eyes, darker against the blackness of the night. His canine companion wagged its tail at them recognizing their scent. They turned glowing eyes toward him. "Anubis," one hissed.

He nodded with a grin. "Apep," he greeted the dragon of the underworld. Apep narrowed his eyes. The back of his mind, the part that was still Shigure, recognized that face and knew another name went with it, but the presence of the third person in the group overran his entire consciousness. Power radiated from him, like the rays of the sun or the heat of the desert, and he seemed to feed off the desert itself. His hair was a nimbus of cold light in the darkness, and his smile was cruel. Anubis bowed before him. "Seth," he breathed.

"We are all come. It has begun," Seth intoned. "Osiris is fallen. Horus draws near." He turned glowing eyes on Anubis. "Bring them, Guide of the Dead."

Anubis inclined his head. "As my lord commands."

-


	4. Harsiesis, Harakhte, Horus

"_I am the Great Cat which dwelleth in the Seat of Truth.  
__I am the Lion-god who cometh forth with long strides.  
__I am the Eye of Horus."  
__- **The Book of the Dead**_

-  
4  
Harsiesis, Plus Harakhte, Equals Horus  
-

"You are the key."

Kyou looked at Harakhte doubtfully. "What do you mean by that?"

Harakhte smiled, a tight, wild expression. "What do you know about my people?" he asked in return.

Kyou snorted. "I don't even know where the hell we are or who your damn people are! How am I supposed to know anything about them?"

Harakhte nodded, still smiling that tight smile that make his head look like a skull. "Very well, I will begin at the beginning. Please, take a seat. This may take awhile."

Shooting a guarded glance at his erstwhile host, Kyou complied. Once seated on the smooth stone of the floor, he took an annoyed look around the room. Harakhte called it a temple. Kyou supposed it was. There was an enormous statue in the middle of the room. Harakte had mentioned earlier that his people worshiped cats. It was at that point that Kyou knew the man was a psycho. Not that the idea wasn't appealing… No. It didn't matter. It was outside. Whatever Harakhte said, this world of his was outside of Kyou's.

"Once there was the lady Isis and her husband Osiris," began Harakhte as if telling a bedtime story. "and they lived happily together. But Osiris' brother, Seth, was jealous of his brother's power and conspired to kill him. He succeeded." Harakhte paused, his eyes distant as if he was himself reliving the events he was describing. "Isis was heart-broken. She beseeched the other gods for aid in resurrecting her fallen husband. Many came forward. But foremost among them was Horus." Harakhte's strange golden eyes were fixed on Kyou's; the hair on the back of the cat's neck was standing on end.

"Horus," Kyou echoed. Something in the back of his head stirred in recognition, but he squashed it viciously. No. He was not going to play this stranger's game. But a shiver ran all over his body with that thought, and Harakhte's golden gaze held him almost spellbound.

"Horus is two people, really," Harakhte continued, in a more conversational vein. "He is the sun that journeys across the sky, and he is the warrior of Osiris; the God of Destruction and Rebirth, and then the God of Vengeance." Harakhte smirked. "I thought the role fit you well. Akito, the fool, does not see what he has made."

Akito? Made? "Tell me what on earth you are talking about you psycho, or I am getting the hell out of here!" Kyou's eyes were round and his lip was curled in distaste as he tried to pull away from Harakhte but found himself drawn to the strange man.

Harakhte made a calming gesture but his eyes were still faraway in time. "Do you not see? It started when our land was overrun, the fracturing. When the invaders would not let us practice the rituals. They believed they did not need the guardian." Harakhte sneered at the memory; this could not have happened in Harakhte's lifetime, Kyou was certain, so why did the man remember it as if he had been there?

"The guardian spirit watches the doorway to the world of the gods. It connects with a human, the worthy one, who is chosen to be the vessel of the guardian. But for many years, there was no vessel." His eyes were so faraway, the years heavy upon him, and Kyou felt himself drawn into the past with the words. "There was no guardian. Each year grew worse than the one before it, without the guardian at the door. Seth was no longer barred from this world, and so little by little he came more boldly into it. Each year things became more… splintered. Until finally…" Harakhte's distant eyes suddenly locked on Kyou, and it was not Harakhte that looked out of them at the cat but something else. Something… familiar, in such a strange way that he could not have said how he knew it. "It broke. The bonds that held Seth bound, the bonds that held Horus as guardian… everything broke."

"It was chaos," Kyou said, his voice chanting the words as if there were from some history he had memorized, though he would have sworn he had never heard them before. "With Seth free and released into the world and Horus unable to oppose him, there was chaos. The others did what they could, but… They needed the guardian." His eyes glazed over as he continued, and that stirring at the back of his mind stirred again, more strongly this time. "And Horus was broken into pieces. The sun stayed, but the warrior of vengeance was drawn away… pulled to another. And he made his home elsewhere."

Harakhte's eyes glowed with golden light. "Harsiesis," he breathed.

Kyou's eyes seemed to glow in return. "Harakhte," he replied in a voice of recognition.

"Welcome," Harakhte said, a wide smile on his face. He held out his hand to Kyou.

Kyou reached out as if to take it, but snatched his hand back at the last second. Shaking his head violently, he snarled at Harakhte, "What the hell! What did you do to me!"

A look of disappointment flashed over Harakhte's features to be quickly replaced by a look of patience. "You can try to fight it," he said, "but the ceremony is already in play."

"I don't give a shit about your damn ceremony!" Kyou jumped up to stand over Harakhte threateningly. "I just want to know why the hell you brought us here, and then I want you to send us home! I…" He stopped. "The ceremony..." He met Harakhte's eyes. "You mean…"

"Osiris is fallen. You must complete the resurrection or he will remain among the dead."

Absolute fury washed over Kyou's face. "Don't fucking talk about Osiris! His name is Yuki!" Not that he really gave a shit about that damn rat, but if anybody was going to kill him it was going to be Kyou. Kill him… Seth. Kyou froze. "Seth…" The color washed from his face. "Ayame. What did you make him do?" Maybe they didn't get along, but Ayame loved his brother. He wouldn't… "What did you make him do!" Kyou yelled.

Harakhte smirked.

His hot fury suddenly changed to cold rage in the pit of his stomach, Kyou turned and left.

-

Tohru was dreaming again. That cat was still there, but now he was talking to a bird. It was a large bird, a falcon, with a cruel curved beak and sharp claws that gripped harshly at the branch it stood on. In her dream, the cat's name was Harsiesis and the bird's name was Harakhte. The bird's eyes were like the sun, shining brilliantly, and the cat's were like the moon. They were talking. Something was broken. It had something to do with the sun and the moon. The moon had been misplaced. Harsiesis had to put it back where it was supposed to go, but something was stopping him. She frowned. He shouldn't stop, they needed to fix this! Reaching out, she took the moon from the cat gently. It glowed in her hand. Looking up she saw that the cat and the bird had disappeared and instead a man stood before her. He had the sun in one eye, like the statue in the temple, and the other eye was empty. An idea occurred to her. She held out the moon to him. Taking it, he put it in his eye.

"Ah, thank you," he said. "That feels much better."

"You're welcome!" She smiled, glad to be able to help.

He touched her cheek. "Little Isis, with your aid I will be whole again. When this happens, then you will return to your home. I am sorry to have involved you, but it cannot be helped." He turned to leave. "Horus will fly again."

_Horus_…

She woke with that strange name lingering in her mind and on her lips. What an odd dream. She frowned. There was no one else in the room, which worried her slightly. Also, she had a strange nagging feeling that something was very very wrong, but she could not have said what. Standing up, she went out in search of the others.

The sun was setting, painting the sky a million shades of a thousand colors. She paused a moment to look at it; she certainly never saw anything like that at home. The emptiness of the horizon made the sky huge. Tohru shivered. It was slightly unnerving. She would be glad when they went home.

_Then you will return to your home_…

She blinked as she remembered part of her dream. It had been decidedly odd… She glanced up and saw Kyou walking toward her.

"Kyou-kun!" she exclaimed, glad to see him. Harakhte trailed after him, watching both of them intently.

"Yeah," Kyou replied. He looked angry about something, and she was about to ask him about it when Harakhte spoke.

"What did you dream about Honda-san?"

She jumped slightly, and the look Kyou shot toward the man was pure malice. "Ah… I… How did you know I… I mean…" she stuttered, "Ah, Harakhte-san, I…" She blushed; it was such a stupid dream. "I dreamed about a cat…"

Was it just her imagining, or did Harakhte's eyes start to glow?

The smile that spread over his face was no figment of her imagination. It was, she thought with surprise, a smile of relief. He laughed lightly, his laughter also tinged with relief. "Ah, Honda-san. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she returned automatically, slightly confused.

He laughed again, and then glanced at Kyou, who was standing there glaring death at Harakhte. "In Egypt," he breathed the name of his homeland as if the very word was holy, "to dream of a cat is considered a sign of good fortune." He looked at Tohru. "There are good things in your future, Honda-san."

She blushed and looked away. Kyou was flushed too, she noticed, but she couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or anger. He turned away from them abruptly, facing out toward the desert, arms folded over his chest.

"Good fortune?" Kyou's voice was so bitter it was hardly recognizable. "How can you say that?" He whirled around and practically snarled at Harakhte, "What good fortune when, from what you've said, they're all here, going through all this _shit_ because of _me_! How can you stand there and say there is anything _good_ about the future?"

Tohru watched, wide-eyed, as Kyou turned and walked a few steps away to try and control his temper. She still had that feeling in the pit of her stomach that something bad had happened that she didn't know about yet. Harakhte stood still, apparently unaffected by Kyou's tirade. After a few moments, he spoke.

"Do you think that I _like_ this?" Harakhte's voice was almost a whisper, but it was fierce and determined, a full reverse from his attitude of just moments before. "Do you think that it pleases me to hunt down people, abduct them, and destroy their lives? I cannot help it that this is what _must_ be done." His voice grew stronger, changing again, almost hysterical now with emotion. "I was chosen, do you think I _asked_ for this life? I have lived now for more than twenty years feeling as if half of my _soul_ was gone. As if it had been _ripped_ away from me, torn from my chest." His eyes were hard and gold. "I feel it, as if it happened yesterday. And I remember the others, those who came before me. Their lives are as my own. Have you ever woken up one morning and you can't remember what _century_ it is, much less what year or day? That I can remember my name every morning is only because our names are all the same. The name is passed down, with the curse. Perhaps it is a help, remembering them." His voice grew sardonic and slightly philosophical. "At least when the realization is full upon me that I am only half a person, I have the halves of others to keep me company." His eyes rested on Kyou, who still stood with his back to the other man. "I have been searching for you for more than a thousand years. I searched the length and breadth of Egypt, and sought out all of the descendants of my clan. I have traveled to many foreign lands, hunted through countless ruins of other's religions, and explored endless clues and leads. I… Sometimes I cannot believe that I have truly found you. At last, the end to my curse."

When Harakhte finished, the three of them stood for a long moment in silence, the desert night darkening around them.

Kyou twitched in recognition of Harakhte's words. He turned to look at the other man. "I suppose we all know something about curses," he said grudgingly.

Harakhte nodded.

"Kyou-kun," came a voice from behind them.

Kyou turned. Kagura was there, watching them. With her were Haru and Momiji. They must have come up while Harakhte had been talking; Kyou frowned when he mentally calculated who was missing. Kagura and Haru stood flanking Momiji. The rabbit had the strangest look on his face and Kyou froze when he noticed his eyes. "Momiji?" he called hesitantly.

Harakhte shook his head; he was smirking again, with his usual combination of arrogance and insanity. "He cannot hear you." He met Kyou's eyes. "Harsiesis."

Kyou bristled, but nodded. He took a deep breath and gritted out, "Thoth." Momiji turned and fixed glowing eyes on Harakhte and then Kyou.

"I can hear you just fine, Kyou-kun," Momiji said, amused. "Thoth is very obliging, and I do think we have a great deal in common." Momiji's glowing eyes drifted past Kyou to Tohru. He walked to her and took her hand. Turning, he looked at Kyou and Harakhte. "Horus," he said, his voice unnaturally solemn. "You must overcome your differences," his eyes seemed to settle on Kyou, then drifted to Harakhte. "Horus must become one again. In order to defeat Seth, you must be as one; to truly become one, you must defeat Seth." Harakhte nodded; Kyou scowled, but nodded as well.

Momiji turned back to Tohru and smiled. "Shall we go along and watch?" She nodded, wide-eyed. That voice in the back of her head was louder now, more persistent, and the feeling in the pit of her stomach had intensified as well.

"Something is not right," she murmured.

Momiji grinned darkly. "There's not a whole lot that _is_ right now, Tohru-kun."

"No…" She shivered. "It's…" She knew. She really did. But she didn't want to admit it to herself. It was… "Souma-kun," she murmured and gripped Momiji's arm harder. He turned empathetic eyes on her face and squeezed her arm reassuringly. She tried to smile at him but a darkness had settled over her. It was hard to breathe. _Osiris_, her mind whispered. _My love…_ Seth would pay for this! If she had to call down Ra from heaven, he would pay! Horus was with her, and all of the others, and together they could…

"Tohru."

She blinked. Looking up she met Momiji's eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "Thank you." She squeezed his arm and tried to stop herself from trembling. He smiled at her.

"Let's go then."

-


	5. Arise, Avenging Protector

"_By the Eye of Horus I am delivered. My stride is made long.  
__I am the Avenger. The road of souls is opened.  
__Ye shall not hold captive my soul.  
__Heaven shall not shut thee in."  
__- **The Book of the Dead**_

-  
5  
Arise, Avenging Protector  
-

The light of the stars washed over the broad expanse of desert that stretched away until it merged with the sky in the distance. The sand lacked everything under the starlight- warmth, color, life. Kagura turned away from the emptiness and back to the small group that followed Momiji along a ridge of rock down into a valley of sand. The six people moved slowly, like dream walkers, but surely, as if their feet were guided by an outside force. Well, Kagura knew hers were. That whispering voice in the back of her head was getting louder, more insistent, but she brushed it away and followed after Kyou.

Momiji lead them down into the valley, but then he stopped. His head turned, scanning the walls of sand, but his movements were stilted and strange. Kagura shuddered, knowing that it was Thoth she watched. "This is as far as I know," he said, his voice not quite Momiji's. "The doorway to the path to the underworld, to where Seth waits, is closed. Only Anubis can find it when it is hidden." Bright eyes turned to regard Kyou and Harakhte. "Or Horus."

Kyou bristled. Harakhte turned to him, his face void of expression. They stared at each other for a long moment. "Fine," growled Kyou. "What am I supposed to do?"

"_You_ do not do anything." Thoth frowned. "You must act _together_."

Snarling under his breath, Kyou stalked over to Harakhte. "Well?" he demanded of the other man. "What do _we_ do?" he said, contemptuously emphasizing the pronoun.

Harakhte shrugged. "I know as much about this as you do. This part of the ceremony is… somewhat out of my experiences."

Kyou almost hit him, but Kagura grabbed his arm. "Kyou-kun," she murmured. "I do not think that is the way."

With great difficulty, Kyou reined in his temper. "Fine," he said again, his voice more even-tempered now. "Do you have any suggestions?" he asked of Harakhte, or Thoth, or anyone else who cared to respond.

Harakhte frowned thoughtfully. "Well, it's something of a stretch, but it couldn't hurt…" He held up his hands to Kyou, who placed his own palm to palm with Harakhte's. "Now," the falcon hissed, his eyes closing, "think about the door, and perhaps we can find it together."

Kyou followed his example, his eyes falling shut as his chin came up, his head tilting back as if he was listening for something. _The door_… _Where is the door?_ There was no answer.

"Hmmm," Harakhte murmured after several minutes.

Kyou's eyes flew open. "What?"

"Are you getting anything? Any clues?"

The cat frowned. "No."

"Oh well." Harakhte shrugged, dropping his hands. "Guess that didn't work."

Kyou might have murdered him on the spot if something hadn't distracted him.

Laughter. Bizarrely familiar, yet markedly unlike anything any of them had ever heard.

"Poor little children. Have you lost something? A doorway perhaps? To a path?"

Six pairs of eyes turned to the source of the voice.

He was sitting on the top of one of the dunes that surrounded them, making the little valley in which they stood. Two jackals sat, one to either side of him, the starlight only outlining the shapes of their dark bodies and catching their glowing eyes. He stood and ran lightly down the dune toward them, his four footed shadows not far behind. He jumped the last few feet, landing crouched in a small spray of sand, then stood level with them. He took a step forward, toward them. His eyes were shining with an unnatural light, and Kagura growled under her breath when his face became clear to her.

"Shigure." Kyou's voice was pleading, desperate for the other man to hear him. Harakhte said nothing, but Kagura could have told her beloved that it was a hopeless gesture. The man's eyes were wild, glowing with a strange light, and he was dressed in the official robes of Anubis- the short pleated linen kilt, the pectoral with the simple design of lapis and carnelian, and the bands that twisted like snakes around his upper arms.

The figure's head tilted to one side, as if he was listening for something. "Shigure," he mimicked Kyou's call, and chills ran down Kagura's spine. "Who is this Shigure you speak of? I do not think I know him." He fell easily into a crouch, grinning widely at them. "But if you are looking for a _doorway_… I think I can help you with that one!" His fingers stroked the fur of his companions and they cackled almost humanly, turning their glowing eyes on the group. "However… there are _far_ too many of you. Only one at a time may enter through the doorway." His eyes narrowed. "Such is the decree of Seth, Ruler of Storms. So Anubis shall see it done."

The wind began to pick up, whipping the sand around them up into miniature dust storms, obscuring the air, making it thick with sand so that they could not see each other. Kagura's hackles started to rise; she reached out through the dusty air and grabbed Kyou by the wrist. She felt his grip tighten in response. On her other side, she reached for Tohru's hand. Joined together, they backed into a circle so that they stood with their backs together. Now the blinding wind could not separate them. But the worst was yet to come, Kagura could see, as she peered out of her slitted eyes. Dark shapes were moving through the sand. Kagura could sense the dunes around them; slowly she drew the group toward one, out of the middle of the valley. Luck, or some sixth sense had made her choose the dune where Anubis was currently engaged in opening the path to the underworld.

He stood, braced against the howling wind, his companions crouched at his feet, his arms held out as if to embrace the storm. Sand fell away from the side of the dune, pulled up into the storm to spin and whirl around and around. Underneath the sand was rock, pitted limestone. And as the sand melted away, a dark hole appeared in front of Anubis, a hole that was a tunnel, a pathway leading down into the earth. He stepped forward, his arms held out to each side as he passed through the doorway and still there was room for someone to walk to either side of him. The wind died down, and he paused and turned back to them.

"What do you seek here among the dead, O Horus of the Sky?"

"The one we seek is among the dead," Harakhte answered him, his voice flat and cold, his expression steely. Anubis' eyes flickered over him and rested on Kyou.

Kyou snorted, glaring at Anubis. "I don't want to fucking seek the dead! I just want everything back to normal. And let me tell you, when I find Seth I'm going to kick his ass!"

Harakhte sighed, rubbing a hand against his temples.

Anubis chuckled. "Foolish children. You oppose Seth? He is master of the desert itself. Everything within it obeys his whim." He lifted a hand. The wind caused sand to curl around his upraised fingers. "I am the Mouth of Seth. Hear his decree." With a flick of his fingers, he sent the sand flying out. It zipped behind Kagura and the others. "Seth is bored with you. He does not think that he will allow you to speak with him," Anubis sneered. His eyes seemed to roll back into his head, and his lips moved as if he was speaking to someone who wasn't there. As if in response, the wind picked up again. Kagura snarled at it insolently, but even to her ears her defiance sounded tired. Anubis chuckled, and, looking at that face that had once been so dear brought an overwhelming despair to her heart. "Prepare yourselves, if you can."

Kagura heard a noise behind her. Almost afraid to do so, she turned around. The others turned with her. And by the dim light of the stars they could see that the wind had not been idle.

The figure stood about ten feet tall, and its forked tail whipping through the now still skies was at least 4 feet long itself. In body, it vaguely resembled a mule or deer, but the lips it pulled back revealed pointed teeth and the paws featured wicked, curved claws. Dark, pale green glowing eyes peered at them from a face, which like the body it was connected to, was entirely composed of hard packed sand.

Kagura took a step back, her own lip curled in a reflexive snarl; the voice in her head battered loudly at her mind. "What _is_ it?" she whispered, trying to ignore the voice.

"It has no name." Momiji/Thoth's voice was eerily calm. "It is the Creature of Seth. That is all. No other name can describe such a being."

"Oh yeah?" Kyou walked up to the sandy monster and glared at it. "Get the fuck out of my way before I feed you your goddamned tail." The creature cocked its head and regarded Kyou. Apparently it decided that the cat would taste good, and started to follow up on this observation. Kyou's fist in its nose put an end to that attempt.

But the creature was not to be defeated so easily. With a growl that made no noise but rumbled over the hills like thunder, it swiped at Kyou with one paw, connecting with its target.

Kyou went tumbling head over heels, but a lifetime of such experiences gave him some cushion. "Feh," he rolled to his feet and spat blood. "That damn rat hits harder than you!" He would have charged the creature again, but suddenly he bent double, his hands going to his head. "What... the…" The voice in his head was getting louder, resisting it… more and more difficult. Perhaps, more difficult than was worth it. Giving in… "No!" Kyou growled, and pushed himself unsteadily to his feet.

"Give in, Kyou-san." Harakhte placed a hand on his shoulder. "Harsiesis could fight this, _Horus_ would make short work of such a creature. But you cannot fight Seth and Harsiesis at the same time my friend."

Kyou brushed his hand away. The pain in his head intensified, then suddenly abated. He sighed in relief. Wait… There had to be a reason Harsiesis was giving up… Behind him, Kagura snarled and Kyou turned to her worriedly.

Kagura shivered. The pull of the wind seemed to pulse with her heart, with the words in her head, and she gave up on all attempts to resist the voice. Why resist? She was going to take that insolent monster and… _Rend, tear, remove limbs, shred, destroy…_ She shook her head, trying to clear it, but the voice had a firm hold now. Her eyes glowed a bright red. Her head snapped up to fix her bloody eyes on her target. "Taueret hears your challenge, creature of sand," she spat derisively and hissed at the monster. "Seth is about to become jackal fodder!" Her fingers crooked in a parody of claws, she threw herself at the creature. _May a painful death greet you for opposing Horus!_

It met her; attempting to flick her aside, it found the prospect harder than it had first thought. She clung, tooth and literal nail, to its leg until it turned to sink wicked looking teeth into her. She released her hold, dropped to the ground, and rolled away from the creature ending in a crouch a few feet away.

"Kagura." Kyou touched her shoulder.

Dimly she heard Harakhte's voice. "I keep telling you, the woman you know is no longer in control of that body."

Kyou growled something in return and his hand tightened on Kagura's shoulder. "Kagura, please," he said softly. She turned toward him, eyes regarding him unseeingly, and cocked her head in an uncanny imitation of the gesture Shigure had used earlier.

"Taueret, stand down." She snapped her head toward this new voice; the others followed her gaze.

"Hathor," she murmured in recognition, and then grinned in anticipation. "Yes. Teach this upstart a lesson."

That back part of her mind, that almost responded to Kyou's word, that almost recognized her name, recognized Hatsuharu as he walked forward. But it was the new part of her, the part that seemed to be in charge of what was going on, that saw the swirl of energy that gathered around his hands and grinned even wider. "Call _us_ fools!" she taunted Anubis. "You tempt fate when you challenge the Sky himself, the Eye of Ra, the one who subdues evil and cannot be appeased." She turned her eyes to her fellow guardian. "Destroy him, Hathor! Show no mercy." Taueret's bloodlust made her tremble all over; Hathor paused as he passed her, tossing her an amused glance.

"This fight is mine," Hathor said as he walked forward, coming between the group and the sand monster. "For Osiris, whom I love…" The energy gathered around his hands, crackled from the ends of his hair, and made his eyes bright with blue-white light. The creature hissed at him, its lips drawn back from its teeth in a travesty of a smile. Hathor returned the smile with one of dark humor. "May Seth return to the pit!"

The creature struck, swatting at Hathor with one enormous paw. Easily dodging, he raised one hand and the energy gathered there coalesced into a brilliant beam of light that forced all to look away from it. When they looked back they saw the Seth animal standing there on three sandy legs, the fourth melted into a twisted shaft of glass.

It snarled at Hathor and struck out again, this time using its deformed leg as a weapon. Dropping to the sand, Hathor rolled out of the way, though not quick enough this time. The twisted glass struck Hathor on the arm as he rolled, clipping his smartly and causing him to overbalance and roll twice more before regaining his feet.

The others had watched, spellbound, as the fight unfolded, but now that Haru looked like he might be losing, Kyou shook the spell off and took a step forward. "No," he murmured.

But Kagura's hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked at her, but Taueret still sat in the depths of her eyes. "No, leave him. Hathor can hold his own against that filth." She sniffed contemptuously.

Sure enough, Hathor rose from his tumble and his eyes snapped with blue-black fire. He brushed carelessly at the blood that ran down his arm. "I needed that scratch to awaken me." Almost condescendingly, he raised a hand and a ball of blue light gathered in his palm. The creature snarled viciously and leapt forward, its jaws almost closing around Hathor's arm. Hathor smirked disdainfully, and released the ball of light inside the creature's mouth. "Enough playing. Be gone now, puppet."

It reared back its head and screamed soundlessly into the night sky. Blue fire licked out from the edges of its mouth. A blue glow seemed to light it from the inside. Taueret realized as she watched, that the creature was melting from the inside out. Gradually the light became brighter as the body of sand was melted into glass that was then melted down into a puddle in the floor of the desert. Hathor fixed the offending smudge beneath him with a dark look then turned to face Anubis. "Cease your games, jackal. Unbar the door."

"Games?" Anubis sounded amused. "Very well then. Let us put aside these parlor tricks." His expression darkened. "But you are fools to think that you can stand before the might of Seth, Lord of the Desert."

And then the wind picked up again, and Taueret sighed internally. It was going to be a long night. _A long night indeed, before Horus rises…_

-


	6. Into the Underworld

Someone asked that I provide a list of which character matched up with which god. I stuck it here, because I thought this was the earliest I could put it without spoiling anything. Hopefully this will clear up any confusion: Kagura is Taueret; Hatsuharu is Hathor; Momiji is Thoth; Shigure is Anubis; Hatori is Apep; Ayame is Seth; Yuki is Osiris; Tohru is Isis; Kyou is Harsiesis, and Harakhte is obviouslyHarakhte, but Harsiesis and Harakhte together make Horus.

* * *

"_They shall see me… the Eye of Horus burning with fire before my eyes.  
__They shall open the holy paths to me…  
__The place which is closed is opened… By the Eye of Horus I am delivered."  
__**-The Book of the Dead**_

-  
6  
Into the Underworld  
-

When Hathor spoke to him, it was the strangest feeling- like there was music playing in his head. Haru looked out from his eyes, a passenger in his own body, watching Hathor dispatch the creature of Seth with ease. It was a strange experience, and while he would not have chosen or allowed such a thing if he had been in a position to do so, Haru found watching Hathor, melding with the god's mind, invigorating. They thought in many of the same ways, the only difference was the goal. But at the moment the goal was the same, though they both gave it a different name and face.

There was only one main point of contention between them, but it happened to be a rather large one that came into focus rather sharply as Hathor turned toward Anubis and prepared to rain fire down upon him. Hathor did not care much for Anubis, but he knew that the disembodied spirit of the god would survive any attack he made- the attack would be intended to slow Anubis down rather than destroy the god. The body he had possessed would be destroyed however, and Haru beat against the walls of his mind in an effort to wrest back control of his body before Hathor succeeded in killing Shigure. _Don't kill him_, he told Hathor, only to receive a puzzled _Why?_ in answer. The god did not particularly care about what happened to humans who stood in opposition to him.

Fortunately, Anubis blocked Hathor's first attack, doing so almost contemptuously. "Who's playing games now, cow? Your hits are weak. Come now," he grinned, "put some effort into it." With that, Anubis snapped his fingers and the jackals that had been crouched at his feet snarled and leapt at Hathor. His mind focused on a less physical attack, Hathor failed to dodge the dogs, and they succeeded in bowling him over. He brought his arm up in time to keep the first one off his throat, and a foot in the face of the second kept it from disemboweling him. He tried to keep an eye on Anubis, in case the god decided to attack, but a look informed him that Anubis had other worries.

Taueret had snuck up behind Anubis and tackled him; the pair went rolling over the sands. Thoth guarded Isis; Harsiesis and Harakhte were arguing. Hathor narrowed his eyes at the dog with its teeth fastened in his arm. _Do you mind letting me help?_ Haru said, annoyed. _That is _my _body you're getting torn up._ Hathor growled low in his throat, but acquiesced to Haru's request. _Finally_, Haru thought, feeling Hathor's rigid control relax. Haru promptly pulled his arm closer and bit the jackal hard on the nose.

Yelping in surprise and pain, the animal released its hold on Haru's arm. The second dog stopped chewing on his shoe and dived for his throat; Haru head butted it viciously. He could feel Hathor's admiration of his rather direct technique. _May I suggest a compromise?_ the god asked.

"Compromise?" Haru murmured, his attention still focused on the forms of the retreating jackals.

_Yes. If you will look to your left slightly…_

Haru looked left. Glowing eyes filled the darkness, crawling over the sands. _Uh oh…_

_Yes,_ Hathor responded. _Seth's army approaches. If I may?_

Haru sighed, but nodded. He felt Hathor again take control of the body they shared. A strike of the blue fire scattered the approaching figures, slowing them momentarily. Hathor turned toward the group. "Thoth!" he called. "Into the tunnel!"

The rabbit nodded, guiding Isis- _Tohru_, Haru thought- to the doorway that Anubis had opened with the intention of using it for himself. Hathor narrowed his eyes and scanned the night, but he could not find Horus anywhere. He would worry about those two later; Taueret was fighting Anubis. Hathor jogged over the sand, moving in the direction in which he had last seen the pair.

He found them, Taueret seated in the sand, Anubis, unconscious, with his head in her lap as she stroked through his hair. _No_, Hathor thought. _That is not Taueret._

It was Kagura who looked up at him sadly, and it was Hatsuharu who knelt beside her in the sand.

"I punched him in the stomach," Kagura said, "and then hit him over the head with a rock. You'd think Shigure of all people would have seen it coming…" She trailed off, and Haru wiped the tear from her cheek without a word. Together, they lifted Shigure between them and carried him to the others.

-

Tohru cried out when she saw the sad trio that came toward the group standing just inside the mouth of the tunnel and went running to them. Kyou's face was like granite as he watched them approach. Like granite; until Haru's eyes met his and the ox said softly, "He's not dead."

Kyou turned away so that they couldn't see his face, so that he wouldn't have to look at them. With everyone gone, with what Harakhte had told him, he felt as if he should be in charge somehow. As if, since this mess was all his fault, he should take responsibility, and maybe for a moment he brushed against the edge of the reason why Hatori never smiled. And in that moment, when they carried Shigure toward him, when he had thought the dog was dead, he felt the most overwhelming sense of failure. Harakhte had explained to him that Yuki wasn't really dead, not yet- he was in something of a coma until the completion of the ceremony, when his fate would be decided either way. But if Shigure was dead… It was true. It made everything real in the most horrible way, because Shigure was the one who'd made him stay, the one who made him go to that stupid school, the one who cried like a baby every time he and the damn rat broke the stupid door, the one who talked to him about things… told him that someone would love him, even though he was the cat.

But Haru said no. He wasn't dead. Kyou discovered he could breathe again. "Is he…" He hesitated, not quite sure how to phrase the question. "Still…"

"Yes." Momiji's voice was soft; Kyou could barely hear him, and he wondered what the rabbit was thinking. Haru and Kagura had placed Shigure on the sand, and Momiji knelt beside him and placed a hand on his forehead. "Anubis still possesses him. I can cause him to sleep," he looked up at Kyou, "but only Seth or Horus, or Anubis himself, can lift the spell of possession."

Kyou nodded. He looked at Harakhte, but for once there was no fire in his gaze. "Put him somewhere he'll be safe, and we'll worry about him later."

Momiji nodded and touched Shigure's forehead again. The dog seemed to take a deep breath, and then relaxed as if into a deep sleep. It occurred to a corner of Kyou's mind that putting people to sleep was not something Momiji could usually do, but dammit he refused to think about the reason they were hear. Not now. Now, as they stood around Shigure, it was just them. Now…

"Kyou-kun." Kagura touched his sleeve, and when he turned to look at her she pointed to the opening of the tunnel, behind them now as they stood just inside the tunnel's bounds. Crouched and crawling there in the semidarkness something grunted and growled. Or rather, a lot of somethings. Haru stood by the opening; blue fire in his hand outlined the shapes that crawled just beyond the edge.

"What…" Kyou began, but was cut off.

"The army of Seth." Harakhte stepped forward, calling forth himself a ball of pure sunlight that sat in his hand and illuminated the passageway they were in, as well as the desert and the creatures that crawled there. "He has called them to his aid, to hinder us."

At these words, a jackal in the front of the group jumped at them, slavering jaws wide. Hathor struck it down almost without looking and glared at the others.

Kyou glared at Harakhte. "But Ayame's the snake…" He trailed off as Harakhte shook his head.

"That was a point of connection, but Seth controls the desert and everything that resides within it. He worked with Anubis while the jackal served him, but now he commands that power himself."

"Kyou-kun." Kagura again, this time sounding strained, and he turned angrily away from Harakhte to go to her.

She was standing beside Haru- no, he glared at the cow, _Hathor_- in the entrance to the tunnel shaking with exertion. He touched her shoulder and called, "Kagura?"

Her eyes snapped open, glowing faintly red, and it was the goddess who responded, "He turns my own against me. I cannot hold them for long; the power of Seth is great."

Kyou opened his mouth to question her further, but the loud grunting of wild pigs, accompanied by a strained noise from Hathor as he fell to his knees from the exertion of holding back the army, stopped him. Kagura/Taueret turned to him and spoke what Kyou was thinking.

"Go," she said. "Hathor and I will guard the door behind you and protect Shigure."

Kyou paused, then nodded. Harakhte lead the way into the dark tunnel, the light in his hand before him, followed closely by Momiji and Tohru.

And Kyou followed after them without looking back, because _Taueret_ had said that she would protect Shigure- and he thought that if the _goddess_ could promise him that, then perhaps there was some hope for them. He felt Harsiesis stirring in the back of his mind, and thought, _Not yet. Soon, I… But_, he took a deep breath, _just give me a little more time._ He thought he felt the god nod as he followed Harakhte into the darkness.

-

Tohru was scared. Outwardly she was calm- and a sense of peace filled her inside as well. But something dark was coming, and it frightened her; like the night Kazuma took Kyou's bracelet. She would have to be strong, like she was for Kyou then, and listen to her heart and do the right thing… but it scared her. It was a coldness in her bones- the idea that something was horribly and irrevocably _wrong_. Had she spoken of the feeling, Harakhte or Thoth might have counseled her that it was nothing more than she felt Isis' grief. But even if she had spoken, if her fear and desire to not be a burden had not kept her silent, she would have dismissed such an explanation. The answer was not so simple, and Isis was trying to tell her that, but the voice of the goddess was soft and dim, as if she was calling from far away.

"So? What next?" Kyou's voice sounded harsh coming suddenly as it did out of the darkness of the tunnel behind her.

Harakhte, who lead them, stopped and turned toward the small group, letting the glow that nestled in the palm of his right hand fall warm over the others. When the light of it- pure sunlight- touched Kyou he seemed to drink its light in as he inhaled.

"You must understand," Harakhte said, "I have no personal knowledge of this quest. All I have are the same whisperings of the gods that you hear, though I have been trained to listen better. And I have the stories that I grew up with. That is all. I…" A muscle in his cheek twitched- _from fear?_ Tohru thought. "I could hazard a guess. But I'd rather not. Thoth?" he asked, turning to the rabbit.

Momiji's eyes were huge in the semi gloom as he turned to regard Harakhte with Thoth's ancient wisdom shining out of them. "You belittle yourself and your knowledge. You do not wish to guess, Falcon, because your guess would be correct." Harakhte flinched, and Thoth continued. "Only one thing stands between you and Seth now. I say only one, but it may as well be thousands." Thoth continued to speak, but Momiji's face grew increasingly sad. "I will tell the story for the outlanders, so they may understand. Every night, as the sun passes through the underworld, there arises one who challenges it- who would, if he could, prevent it from ever rising again. He hates Horus, with everything that is in his being. And he is strong. Stronger than Anubis. And we are two fighters down." Thoth's eyes regarded Harakhte and Kyou. Kyou looked grim and Harakhte, if possible, looked even grimmer.

Thoth finished, though they already knew who it was- knew him by one name or another. "He is Apep, the great dragon of the underworld."

And Momiji said in despair, "Ha'ri."

-


	7. Despise the Sun

"_What manner of land is this unto which I have come?  
__It hath not water, it hath not air;  
__it is depth unfathomable,  
__it is black as the blackest night, and men wander helplessly therein."  
__- **The Book of the Dead**_

-  
7  
Despise the Sun  
-

The further the four traveled, the dimmer the light in Harakhte's hand grew. It was as if the darkness was swallowing it up, until at one point the falcon stopped and, shivering, cried out, "I cannot!" And immediately his light vanished, leaving them in darkness.

"Be calm." And Thoth's voice _was_ calm, the personification of calm, and as they blinked they realized they could see a little bit and that a light was growing. It was Thoth, his own hands cupped together, glowing softly with moonlight. "Here, in this place, considering its master, sunlight is abhorrent." His lambent eyes met Harakhte's. "Do not be alarmed if you feel weak. Apep's hatred will sap your strength."

Harakhte shivered. He did not like this place. It was dark, and oppressive, and it was slowly crushing him… "Hey." A hand touched Hara's shoulder and he looked up at Kyou. "You all right?"

Hara nodded, but, thinking better of it, paused and shook his head. "No. No, I'm not at all." He shivered again, shutting his eyes as the darkness bore down on him. He felt as if his wings were being torn off and he was being sealed away in a place too small and too cold. He longed for the sky, the openness, the heat of the sun…

Warmth filled him, unexpectedly, and he opened his eyes. Kyou was standing over him, his hands firmly on Harakhte's shoulders, his eyes, golden orange, looking through Hara piercingly. Hara inhaled deeply, and he could almost taste the sunshine, the vastness of the open sky. "Harsiesis?" he asked, hopefully, wonderingly. Was that this warmth- his soul, their souls, joined again together?

Kyou frowned and said, "No," accompanied by a shake of his head. He released Harakhte, dropping his hands to his sides uncomfortably. "I dunno," he amended. "I just… It felt like the thing to do." He rubbed his chest. "I could feel you losing it, and I knew, somehow, that I could help." He turned away abruptly and started off again, moving down the passage, and Harakhte couldn't repress the grin of absolute joy that broke out on his face.

Apep still lay before them, but Harakhte's dread was suddenly replaced with hope. Kyou felt Harsiesis; he would give in to the god before long and then Horus would be born. Harakhte shivered with joy. To be joined… to be whole… It was not only what he longed for, but what generations before him had worked toward; bled and died for. To know the future would be better filled him with a feeling of acceptance. As if, whatever happened, it was worth it.

He followed Thoth, the moon god's light clear in the oppressive darkness, and he could feel his brother- himself- close behind him.

-

They stepped into an enormous cavern and Hara felt his skin prickle with apprehension. As if in answer to his premonition, the light in Thoth's hand winked out. It only made sense, Hara thought, making sure to breathe deeply so to keep himself calm. Apep worshiped darkness. Any light was an abomination to him… And strangely enough there _was_ light in this horrid place. Harakhte could not have said where it came from, but a soft glow permeated the air. It was almost as if the darkness was so absolute, that it itself gave off light. It was easier to see the cavern now, and Hara noticed the river winding through one side, across the path and to the other side.

Something was out there, watching them. Isis stood close beside Thoth, holding his hand tightly as her eyes darted around the vast dark room. Kyou stepped out from behind Hara and stood beside him. Hara glanced over at him. _Is this not how it should be? We are together. Nothing will go wrong._ He turned his attention back to the room with confidence and stepped forward, around Thoth and in front of him.

Almost instantly a wave of intense _hatred_ slammed into Harakhte. He stumbled and fell to him knees. He heard Kyou call his name and start to run to his side, only to be struck by the same wave.

Kneeling on the floor of the cave, Hara gasped for breath, tears springing to his eyes as the intensity of the emotion flowed over him. It was like smelling the rotting carcass of a camel in the heat of the afternoon and being drowned in tar both at the same time; all while burning from the inside with an intense desire to destroy himself. His body heaved, rejecting everything it held, desperate to expel the noxious feeling that was winding its way into his nose and mouth. He hated himself, the feeling was so strong, and he didn't deserve to live or exist at all…

Someone touched him on the shoulder and a calm, cool feeling fell over him, pushing away everything else. He could think again, he could move without feeling nauseous. He turned his head to see Thoth standing beside him, hand on his shoulder and other hand on Kyou's shoulder, the cat kneeling glassy eyed on Thoth's other side.

Thoth did not look at them. His eyes were fixed on something, someone, standing on a ledge of rock not far away. It was a man, wearing a long kilt that hugged his body, falling to his ankles, slit up the sides to allow for movement. It was bound about the waist with a golden cord, and the serpents of Seth twined golden around his upper arms while the pectoral on his chest flashed blue in the non-light with inlaid lapis. His hair was tousled, the black locks falling about his face. Narrowed, piercing eyes burned through them to observe the group that stood before him. He did not speak, merely looked at them.

"Hatori!" Kyou cried out, and he tried to jump to his feet and run to the dragon. Hara called out to stop him, but it was Thoth's hand still firm on his shoulder that brought Kyou back down to his knees.

"He will kill you," Momiji said sadly. "Don't."

Kyou shook him off and stood, but did not move toward the dragon. "No. He can't. Hatori," he called again, his voice was thick with emotion and he stepped forward.

Apep raised a hand and, even across the cave, Kyou froze where he stood. All the muscles in his body seemed to go lax as whatever held his to the earth was cut and his body floated upward lightly. Abruptly, Apep sneered and spread his fingers. Kyou went flying backward to slam into the unforgiving rock wall behind them and collapse to lie at the foot of it.

Tohru ran to his side, calling his name, but no one else moved. She looked up from Kyou's body, tears in her eyes, as she looked over at Apep. "Hatori-san," she whispered.

Hara dropped his head and shook it mournfully. This would not work. Hatori was not there, no more than Shigure had been. The dark gods did not ask permission as those of the light were often wont to do; they possessed, fully and utterly. It was not that the dark was more powerful; just that it didn't hesitate to use the power it held, regardless of costs.

But the little Isis was walking forward. She came to the edge of the river that ran across the cavern, its water black and hard- like rocks that moved to form new shapes, still with jagged edges. Amazingly enough, something she had done had caused Apep to move as well; he had stepped down from his ledge and stood even with her, his dark eyes regarding her with hatred. Harakhte had a bad feeling; his eyes flicked back to the water. The water… of the river… "Tohru! Do not touch the water!" He dove toward her and pulled her away from the river. Apep's lip curled in a snarl as he regarded Hara, and Hara made the mistake of looking him in the eye. _Idiot_, he cursed himself, but it was too late.

A glance into those eyes and blackness surrounded him, closing in around him, pushing him down until he couldn't breathe... Something squeezed him, like a giant serpent tightening around his body, constricting his chest, his lungs, as he gasped for air. Alone in the dark, the cold- where was his brother? He would never find him, he would always be alone, in this ever shrinking darkness, until it smothered him…

There were hands on his face; soft, warm hands. "Poor child," a voice was saying. "Poor sweet child. So lost. Come home now, my child. Come home…" He opened his eyes. He lay with his head in Isis' lap. He looked up at her- her eyes were closed tightly and her hair seemed to float in a wind of its own making as she stroked his face. "Come home," Tohru said, and she blinked rapidly and seemed to come back to herself. She glanced down at Hara's head in her lap and blushed profusely. He smiled up at her, but in deference to her immediately removed himself.

"My thanks little Isis," he said taking her hands and kissing them, which caused her to blush more, deny that _she_ could ever be of help to anyone, and immediately remember Kyou.

She went running back to Kyou and knelt beside him, and Hara breathed a sigh of relief when he moved, reaching a hand up to brush Tohru's cheek lightly. From the corner of his eye he saw Thoth standing by the river and in alarm he repeated his warning. "Thoth! Do not touch the water."

The rabbit nodded. "I know its properties." He peered down at the strange water, though his eyes appeared to be focused inward, and his voice was thoughtful as he murmured, "Lethe, the river that brings forgetfulness to those who drink of it." He looked up sharply at Apep, standing across the river, and seemed to come to a decision. Taking a short running start, he leapt lightly over the river and landed on the other side.

Harakhte stared, unable to speak, his heart suddenly in his mouth. The cavern around them seemed to shake as Apep narrowed his eyes at the intruder. Kyou struggled up from where he lay and, yelled furiously, "Momiji! Damnit, get back here." He broke out in a fit of coughing; as if to underscore Apep's power, and his willingness to use it, blood flecked the hand Kyou put over his mouth.

"Kyou-kun!" Tohru gasped, but he pushed her away, pushed himself to his feet, and stumbled closer to the pair standing across the river. Almost unnoticed, Hara came and supported Kyou when he almost fell over.

"This is my battle, Kyou-kun," Momiji said, not looking at them. "Save yourself for Seth." And with that he launched himself at Apep.

Apep lifted a lip in a silent snarl; even as Momiji's slight body hit him and the pair went tumbling end over end, he made no sound.

The trio on the other bank of the river watched with bated breath, but even though they saw it coming and Kyou yelled at Momiji, nothing they did could stop the pair as they rolled over and tumbled into the river.

-


	8. River of Oblivion

"_Thereupon shall come Thoth,  
__who is equipped with words of power in great abundance,  
__and he shall untie the fetters,  
__even the fetters of the god Seth which are over my mouth."  
__**-The Book of the Dead**_

-  
8  
River of Oblivion  
-

It was darkness. All around him, like walls of stone surrounding him, though it was only water…

Only water? The waters of the river Lethe could never be called _only_ water.

It was like ice on his skin, ice in his veins, ice in his brain… Not cold so much as… sharp. Painful. And definitely not something he'd planned on experiencing.

Momiji, working in concert with Thoth, had determined there was something particularly strange about the way Apep was acting. Thoth had said that if he could get his hands on the dragon, he could figure out more about what it was precisely. Momiji had been game; again, falling into the river had never been part of the plan.

Especially if such pain was his reward. It was so painful, in such an unexpected manner- there shouldn't be _pain_ in water, in _simple_ water- that it made him wish he could forget. Just forget it. Yes… that was it! He could just forget all about it…

Pain faded, as his consciousness faded, and everything turned dull and soft. His eyes wandered underneath his closed lids, and a blurry picture formed. It was a scene, in a child's bedroom; everything felt warm, gentle. There was a woman, sitting beside a bassinet, rocking it slowly. She was singing softly, and he approached her and took her hand. She turned and smiled at him, her face only a blur as she dropped his hand and put her arm around his shoulders with a soft laugh. Something snapped, or perhaps just clicked, inside Momiji, and he suddenly and furiously dismissed the scene. He fought his way back to the surface of his mind and whatever waited for him there.

Cold.

Everthing was cold, and that simple word couldn't seem to quite describe the feeling. The water was all around him, drowning him again. Where the strange, sharp pain hadn't worked, it would try the freezing cold to drag him to oblivion. He bared his teeth in a silent snarl of defiance as he struggled wildly- though against what exactly, he had no idea. Something grabbed him, jabbed him sharply- _this_ pain was blunt and warm; so unlike the rocky blackness of the water that wanted to drive him insane. He came back to himself fully and, thrusting upwards, he broke the surface of the water, and warmth and sound exploded in on him.

Tohru was calling his name. Harakhte was arguing with Kyou, holding the cat back from jumping in after Momiji. But as soon as they saw him they stopped, and stared, their eyes searching, waiting to see…

He opened his mouth, to speak, when a hand grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him back under.

He breathed water and almost succumbed again to the welcoming nothingness that waited. But he couldn't. Tohru and Kyou were depending on him, and Hatori…

He couldn't let it be Hatori. He could feel Apep's slender fingers wrapped around his ankle and he struck out, trying to free himself. He was failing rather miserably, Apep working his grip up the rabbit's body until those fingers wrapped themselves around his neck, when Thoth nudged at the back of his mind.

_I have discerned the source of Apep's inconsistency_, the god said unhurriedly.

_Is that so?_ Momiji responded, his vision flickering as the presence of water in his lungs, rather than oxygen, started to get to him and the pressure on his neck slowed the already insufficient blood flowing to his brain. _Mind filling me in?_

_There is no time. Give me your body._

Momiji would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been underwater; if he actually had time to do anything but weakly nod in assent to Thoth.

Gods didn't need to breathe. And they didn't think nearly as slowly as humans did. Thoth reached out his hands and grabbed Apep by the upper arms, where the thin gold serpents twined, almost before Momiji could gather enough thought to relinquish control. Thoth's eyes glowed as he focused power into his palms, throwing the raw heat at Apep.

It happened so fast that Momiji didn't even have time to pass out before he broke the surface of the water again. He fell on the bank and breathed in air with one breath and choked out water with the next. Kyou, Tohru, and Harakhte crowded around him. He dimly saw Apep rising out of the water on the other bank, the snake charms around his arms melted away.

Momiji reached out blindly and grabbed Kyou's sleeve. "Be careful," he whispered, shivering. "He was bound to Seth. I…" He broke out in a fit of coughing, his throat raw from the icy water. "I broke that binding, but he still hates you." Momiji shivered again, closing his eyes and shudders raked his entire body. He was so cold, inside and out.

So cold…

…He could forget how cold he was.

It was easy. If he just forgot… forgot what cold even _was_, he could be warm again…

Momiji shook his head firmly in denial. "No," he murmured. "Ha'ri." He held on to the name, branding it on his mind. He was _not_ going to forget. "Ha'ri," he murmured, his eyes meeting Apep's across the river, then fluttering closed as his body was wracked with shudders.

-

"Come on Momiji. Stay with us." Kyou shook the rabbit's shoulder worriedly. Momiji was shivering violently, there was no way to get him warm, and he looked dangerously close to passing out.

Apep grinned, the expression looking strangely out of place on his face. "Well." They all jumped slightly to hear him speak for the first time. He cocked his head and peered at Momiji intently. "You risked muck to free me, recognizing that your gesture would not save your lives." He sounded slightly perplexed, as if he could not grasp the reasoning behind such an action- and was still debating whether or not he actually cared.

"What the hell?" Kyou mumbled. He looked at Momiji, but the shivering rabbit barely seemed to acknowledge his presence. "What's he talking about?"

It was Harakhte who answered him, comprehension dawning on his face. "Seth bound Apep to him, to force him to fight for him, and Thoth freed him from Seth." He frowned. "But why would Seth act in such a way? Apep would fight us in any case." He glanced over at the dragon who narrowed his eyes and glared back causing Harakhte to shiver nervously.

"Because, you incompetent bird," Apep said, folding his arms across his chest. He seemed no worse the wear for his dump in the river. "Seth likes to be in charge, and," his eyes seemed to narrow further as he sneered, "I answer to no one." Harakhte shrunk away from his adversary, shivering.

"Oh yeah?" Kyou stepped up to the side of the river, glaring down his opponent on the other bank. "That's a load of bullshit."

Apep's eyes flared with cold fire as he settled his gaze approvingly on Kyou. "You have spirit, outlander." He sniffed deeply, then regarded Kyou again. "Harsiesis? Found at last? Well, well." A predatory gleam appeared in his eyes. "Perhaps this song and dance is not for naught. Maybe Seth does have reason to fear." His expression belied his words; to him at least, they were not counted much of a threat. Harakhte moved to stand by Kyou.

"Be careful," Harakhte warned. "He lives to kill us. You are not strong." Kyou snarled at him silently, not pleased at the reminder but recognizing its truth. He still ached all over from when Apep had thrown him against the wall earlier.

"No, he is not," Apep agreed with Harakhte's assessment, seeming strangely sad about the fact. He cocked his head as an idea seemed to occur to him. "Perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone, as it were." He grinned darkly at Harakhte's apprehension at his choice of words and started walking forward. He walked across the surface of the river as if it were stone even steadier than the cavern that surrounded them.

Harakhte and Kyou tensed as he came toward them, taking up defensive positions in front of where Momiji lay shivering on the ground, Tohru crouched beside him. Apep lifted a finger almost carelessly, and the pair of guards lifted off their feet to hang limply suspended in the air. Kyou winced; he really hoped he wasn't about to get thrown into a wall again.

But for all his hatred, which still rolled off him toward Kyou in an almost palpable wave, Apep walked right by the two incarnations of Horus as if they weren't there. He knelt beside Momiji. Tohru stared at him, frightened but unwilling to retreat. Apep looked deeply into her eyes. She stared back, mesmerized, until something she saw there made her cry out suddenly in fear and pain. Kyou growled at Apep, almost reflexively, and the dragon turned to smile at him. "So tense," he chided in dark humor, but he released Tohru from whatever held her. She blinked rapidly and looked away, but did not move away from Momiji. The dragon reached out a hand and placed it on Momiji's forehead.

The rabbit was still shivering, muttering occasionally, "Ha'ri." But as soon as Apep touched him he went still, his eyes flying open wide. After a moment, Apep removed his hand, then stood and retreated across the river to seat himself on a rock. As he passed them he flicked a hand, and Kyou and Harakhte dropped from where they had hung frozen.

Kyou jumped up and went to Tohru and Momiji. "What did he…" But he stopped asking, because the answer was clear.

Momiji blinked up at him. "Kyou?" He wrinkled his nose. "What…" but he looked around, and perhaps Thoth was talking to him, and he remembered what had happened. He looked over at Apep. "You…"

"I reversed the effect of the river." The dragon flicked a hand in their direction noncommittally. "It is my domain; I have mastery."

Kyou's face was a mask of confusion as he looked over at Apep. "But… why? You don't want to kill us?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Not at all." Apep's eyes glinted with a strange light, and he smirked. "But I am _severely_ vexed with Seth. And you, little cat, are most certainly not worth _my_ time at the moment." Kyou snarled at the insult, but Momiji placed a warning hand on his arm.

"So you will let us pass on to Seth?" Harakhte's voice was disbelieving.

"Yes. Perhaps he'll learn not to attempt to deceive me." Apep frowned. "Though it is doubtful. Seven thousand years, and he hasn't learned anything yet. In either case, he will kill you or you will kill him, and I will destroy whoever survives." He shrugged. "Unless I become bored. In which case I might not wait, and just destroy all of you before you've had a chance to settle your differences with each other." His eyes flashed with malice, and a feeling of power washed over Kyou; a greater power than any he had ever felt before. _He_ actually shivered this time. He figured it would be a good idea if they left before Apep changed his mind, and he turned to Momiji.

"Which way?" he asked the rabbit, but Momiji's eyes were still on Apep.

"I cannot guide you any longer," the rabbit replied, and Kyou wondered whether it was Momiji or Thoth who was speaking. The younger boy turned to him and it certainly _seemed_ like Momiji when he said, "I… cannot leave him." His eyes were sad. "Anyway, you don't need me." He looked over at Tohru and smiled. "You have already a greater guide than I."

-


	9. The Power of Isis

"_The Speech of Isis: Isis saith-  
_'_I have come to be a protector unto thee.  
__I make thee to live like a god.  
__Thine enemies have fallen under thy feet.  
__I have made thy word to be true, and thou art mighty before the gods.'  
_…_The blood of Isis, the spells of Isis, the magical powers of Isis,  
__shall make this great one strong,  
__and shall be an amulet of protection."  
__- **The Book of the Dead**_

-  
9  
The Power of Isis  
-

"What?" Tohru squeaked. "_Me_? I can't lead you! I don't know where I'm going, Kyou-kun…" Her protests trailed off as Kyou looked at her steadily.

"Yes you do," he said softly, unwillingly. "Isis knows." He took a deep breath.

"She can find her way to Osiris," Harakhte added. "And where he is, there Seth will be as well."

"There is no time for talking," Momiji said urgently. His eyes were fixed on Apep, crouched across the river with a sneer spread across his face. "Go, quickly. There, the passage to the right."

Kyou nodded, and ushered Tohru in front of him toward the opening in the rock where the river left the cavern.

"Yes, go quickly," Apep called after them mockingly. "And beware, Horus." His eyes glinted. "Beware when you face Seth. When you enter his presence, take nothing with you that you fear to lose."

Kyou narrowed his eyes, but hurried Tohru after Harakhte into the tunnel.

"Kyou!" Momiji called, and Kyou paused. "Thoth says to be aware of the powers of Isis. She can help you!" He broke off as Apep moved and all of his attention was drawn to his opponent. Kyou nodded, though Momiji wasn't watching anymore, and disappeared into the tunnel.

Apep grinned at Momiji. "Little one, you are nothing. You think Thoth's whispering makes you strong? You think you have a hope to stand before me? You think you could slow me if I intended to pass you?"

"No." Momiji's voice was soft, but firm. "You said you might get bored," he said, his voice gaining strength as he smiled broadly. "I thought I would entertain you."

"Oh?" Apep's expression was skeptical, but he settled down, in front of where Momiji stood in the middle of the tunnel which Kyou and the others had taken, with an expression of amusement on his face. "Proceed."

Momiji took a deep breath.

-

Tohru ran for what felt like a very long time, until at last, when the river Lethe lay far behind then, twisting silently down a side passage,and they were completely surrounded by darkness, Harakhte released her hand and allowed her to stop moving forward and pause to pant for breath.

"Tohru?" It was Kyou's voice, behind her and she answered him gladly.

"I'm alright Kyou-kun. Are you…?" He "feh-ed" at her in answer, but now that Apep was no longer near, Harakhte risked a light. It shown, weakly, from the palm of his hand, but the pure sunlight, no matter how feeble, was like a jolt of energy to Kyou as it brushed over him. He breathed in deeply, then grimaced, his hand going automatically to his side. "Kyou-kun?" Tohru said, worriedly.

"I'm fine," he said, but when he tried to move forward Harakhte put out a hand to stop him.

"You are not. Apep hurt you."

"Whatever," Kyou said and tried to push past him. "It's not important. We should keep moving."

"Not important?" Harakhte frowned, then punched Kyou in the side. Tohru cried out. Kyou gasped in pain, and fell to his knees, his face going a few shades whiter in the dimness of the passage. "It is important if you cannot even take a hit. Seth will eat you without even lifting a finger."

Kyou glared at him, but Tohru knelt beside him, forestalling any of the angry words he was about to speak.

"Be still," she said, her voice deep and otherworldly. Kyou looked at her worriedly.

"Tohru?" he said, pleading with her. She looked up at him, her eyes distant and her expression serene. He stifled a cry and turned away from her.

"Kyou-kun?" she asked suddenly, concernedly. He looked back at her- she was Tohru again, worried, confused, her eyes wide with her almost perpetual wonder.

"Tohru," he said, softly.

She smiled at him anxiously and blushed slightly. "I was, um, talking to Isis-sama and she said that I can help you feel better."

Kyou recalled Momiji's last shouted words. He looked at her deeply; he didn't want to loose Tohru to this. More than anything, he didn't want to lose Tohru to this… but Harakhte was right. "Alright," he said softly, nodding at her. He shifted his position, folding his legs under him and leaning back against the wall.

Tohru was nervous as she raised one hand and placed it gently against Kyou's side. Closing her eyes, she could see how his skin was bruised and how the bone and muscle under it were damaged, all painted before her in bright colors. The areas that needed her attention seemed brighter, and she frowned in concentration as she did what Isis told her. A power she didn't really understand seemed to flow out of her; it frightened her a little, but if it could help Kyou she couldn't protest Isis too much. The whisper of Isis grew louder in her mind as she worked, but never threatened to overwhelm her. Isis seemed very sad, and while Tohru empathized with the goddess' pain she couldn't let her own pain and fear paralyze her- there were people who needed her. Kyou needed her and Yuki needed her, wherever he was, and Shigure and Momiji and everyone…

_They… need me?_

"Yes," Tohru said. Kyou looked at her oddly, and Tohru realized she had spoken out loud. She rewound the conversation in her mind and realized it was Isis who had spoken to her, not her own fears. _Yes, they need me._ Tohru blinked as those words suddenly sunk in. _They need me to be strong._ Well, that was slightly different, but even more true, she thought, and Isis seemed to mull those words over.

_You are correct, little one. I… I became lost in my grief._ Tohru thought she felt a wind that smelled like flowers ripple through her hair. _But I am a queen, no matter what happens. I should not forget the people who look to me._

"Tohru?"

She blinked and looked at Kyou. His face was worried. She realized she had finished healing his side and that she was just sitting there, lost in thought as she talked to Isis. "I'm sorry," she said, smiling at him brightly. "Isis-sama needed some encouragement. She is very sad."

Kyou shook his head and, reaching up gently, took Tohru's face in his hands and leaned his forehead against hers. She merely stared at him, wide-eyed, as he sighed deeply. "Tohru," he whispered, his breath ghosting over her lips. "Just… be careful. I… I can't lose you." He tilted his head back so that he could look her in the eyes. Their lips were inches apart when he released her suddenly and stood, walking abruptly into the darkness.

Tohru blinked again, trying to assimilate what had just happened. Isis giggled, a surprisingly young and girlish sound especially for one who only moments before had been deep in mourning. _He _likes_ you,_ the goddess murmured in Tohru's ear, like any school girl discussing a crush. Tohru blinked again. _Kyou-kun?_ She blushed and, standing, stumbled after him in the darkness.

At first Harakhte brought up the rear, but soon he and Kyou switched places and Hara lead with his light, glowing softly. Tohru stayed in the middle, her head hanging down, her hair in her face trying to hide her blush. _Kyou-kun?_ she thought again, and Isis giggled.

Harakhte swore, and Tohru looked up inadvertently. The passage before them split into two separate passageways. He turned and looked at Tohru. Kyou looked her too, and Tohru could only glance between the two different roads confusedly. Which way could be the right one?

_It is neither._

Tohru blinked in surprise. "Neither. Neither way is the right way."

"What?" Kyou looked at her, confused.

She walked forward and placed her hands on the rock directly opposite from the way they had come. "Here. The path is here, Kyou-kun."

Kyou walked forward to place a hand on the wall of stones separating them from the needed path and, shoving against it experimentally, swore as well. "It'll take forever to get through this."

_It is no obstruction. Not to one of my power._ Tohru shivered.

"It is no obstruction," she said, her voice strong. "Not to one of my power." Kyou turned toward her as if stung by her words, and she smiled at him, telling him not to worry.

_A knife…_

"Hara-san," Tohru said, looking at him. "Could I borrow your knife?" He nodded, holding the weapon out to her, hilt first. "Thank-you."

_Blood…_

Calmly, Tohru put the edge of the knife to her skin and cut across her palm.

"Tohru!" Kyou leapt to her side and grabbed the knife away from her, but she only closed her palm, squeezing the wound so that her blood fell onto the floor of the cave.

_Come to me…_

She closed her eyes. "Come to me," she said, her voice deepening as she intoned the words in the ancient language of the gods. "I call you, in the name of Osiris. Come to me." Her eyes flew open and she blinked as she looked around her.

Harakhte was wrestling with Kyou, trying to prevent him from touching Tohru. "Leave her, idiot! She's in the middle of a spell. Break her concentration now and she may never come back to you- not as she was." Kyou snarled at him and hit him viciously in the face before turning away and pressing his clenched fists against the wall of rock that barred their way.

"Kyou-kun?" she said, quietly. He whirled around, coming to her side so quickly she almost didn't see him move. He tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it tenderly around her hand. "Thank-you Kyou-kun," she said. She touched his face and he looked up at her. "I'm okay… Kyou." She smiled, shyly. "I'm okay." He turned his head, her fingers trailing over his cheek, and pressed his lips against the palm of her hand.

It was then Kyou head what was probably his least favorite sound in the world.

A mouse squeaked, near Tohru's foot. She looked down. Kyou looked down as well, torn between a desire to rend the little creature limb from limb and a hope that filled him that it was a _particular_ damned rat, and he really was alright. But there was no recognition in those beady little eyes, and the brown furred, black eyed creature that crawled into the hand Tohru lowered was not Yuki.

"You came," she said, her voice deeper again- Isis' voice. Glancing around, Kyou noticed more of the rodents scurrying across the floor. Tohru held the creature up in front of the wall of stones. "We require passage through here." The rodent squeaked, as if in affirmation, and scurried to join its brethren. Kyou snorted; what the hell good was _this_ supposed to do? Isis smiled at him- a sly, knowing smile that would never have graced _Tohru's_ face- and said, "You will be surprised at what they accomplish. They obey me, out of courtesy to my lord, when I call in his name."

Kyou flinched at her words. _Her lord…_ He turned away, arms folded across his chest.

It was only a couple of minutes later that a rumbling sound filled the small passage. Kyou glanced over at the barrier, only to see that it had crumpled in the middle. The rodents, rats and mice, hurried about moving stones from the top of the pile, as they had undermined it from the bottom earlier. Working swiftly, and in great numbers, it wasn't long before they had cleared a space large enough for the trio to walk through.

Harakhte lead them through into the new passageway, followed by Tohru and Kyou talking up the rear. The rats clustered around Tohru squeaking at her as if speaking to her, and then they melted back into the crevices in the rock as quickly as they had appeared. "They go to Osiris," she said, her voice sad.

"As should we," Harakhte said, speaking up. He wanted to get the group moving again before Isis or Kyou- yes, he had seen the way the cat looked at Tohru- started wallowing in grief. But they both looked at him and nodded.

Tohru shook her head, and Isis left her, almost palpably. She smiled at Kyou and took his hand. He held her hand as if it was the last lifeline connecting a drowning man to the shore, and followed her as she lead them through the passage.

-


	10. Horus before the God of Chaos

"_Stand up therefore, O Horus, for thou art counted among the gods."  
__**- The Book of the Dead**_

-  
10  
Horus before the God of Chaos  
-

It seemed like they had been walking forever. Something was smothering him, almost like when they had approached Apep- only this, rather than fighting everything he was, simply oppressed him, flattening him under its power and anger. Harakhte shivered, fear gnawing at the edges of his consciousness. He was worried about Kyou; the cat still had not accepted Harsiesis. Without Harsiesis, there was no hope of defeating Seth.

Harakhte's thoughts were interrupted as Tohru stopped. Before her the passage opened up, widening into another cavern. She took a deep breath and walked forward the last few steps that would take her into the cave, the incarnations of Horus flanking her.

As Hara stepped into the cave he noticed instantly that it was far larger than the one where Apep had confronted them. The rock ceiling vaulted far upward and light chased darkness from all the corners without actually brightening anything, in a manner that defied all reason and science. A river lay before them, again coming between them and their destination. In the center of the chamber rose an altar of stone, upon which lay a body and before which stood the one they sought.

When Seth turned and looked at him, Harakhte fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the sheer _power_ of the god's gaze, and something deep within him quivered.

-

Ayame looked really great, Kyou had to admit. If evil overlord of the world was the look you were going for, that is. He was every inch Seth- the Seth that Harsiesis, in the back of his mind, recognized as his mortal enemy. He wore the familiar pleated kilt, dyed an unsettling black and hung heavily with gold, matched with a breastplate trimmed with gold and studded with carnelian that glinted redly in the light like blood. Carnelian and gold twined around his throat and around his arms at the wrist and just above the elbow. The headdress of the pharaoh fitted his head perfectly; the cloth framing his face should have been white or gold banded, but was as unrelentingly black as the kilt. His eyes glowed, their usual disquieting pale green made even more disturbing by the intensity of the power that backed them, and the mere sight of him made Kyou want to turn around and run away.

Which, of course, meant he took a step forward.

Kyou could see Yuki lying on the altar. He was dressed like a pharaoh just as Seth was- in the back of his mind Kyou wondered at what point the rest of the group had missed out on the costume party- the drooping headdress replaced with the double crown of Egypt, and he was wrapped loosely about with a large white cloth that almost completely enveloped him. His head was tilted back slightly, his eyes open and staring vacantly up at the ceiling, and nothing about him indicated that he was in any way, at all alive. He never blinked or shifted his gaze and his chest didn't move. His arms were folded over his chest and he held the crook and flail in hands that seemed stiff, as if they had never held any position other than their current tight grip.

Harsiesis was growling, pulling wildly against Kyou's restraining hold, lunging toward Seth. _I must destroy him! _the god panted with exertion and denied bloodlust, screaming madly in Kyou's mind. Kyou told him to shove it. There were _not_ going to kill Ayame, so he'd better just forget it right now. Kyou advanced slowly but steadily toward Seth, their eyes locked, each step perceptibly smaller than the last, until he came to a stop, trembling with anger. His body refused to move forward, but he clenched his fists defiantly and tried to force it. Nothing happened. Seth's gaze seemed to be laughing at him.

A hand slipped into his and he glanced behind him to see Tohru standing there, smiling shyly but firmly. She held Harakhte's hand in her other hand, and she brought their hands together. As they touched, Kyou felt a thrill of strength pass through him but when he looked Hara in the eye the falcon said simply, "Harsiesis."

Kyou could feel the god, within him, trying to respond, but he dropped Harakhte's hand as if it had burned him. He saw Hara's disappointed look, but he couldn't… He couldn't give in. If he did… Who knew what would happen?

_What will happen if you don't? _

He knew Harsiesis was behind that thought. _I'm not the giving in type_, he responded, and felt Harsiesis grin in approval.

_It is not giving in,_ Harsiesis whispered, his voice sounding suspiciously like Harakhte's. _It is acknowledging yourself, my cousin from the east._

Kyou took a deep breath. "Tohru," he said, glancing at her, Apep's words fresh in his mind. "Stay back." She nodded and, taking a few steps back to stand by the doorway where they had entered, smiled at him encouragingly. _Tohru…_ he thought. She had faith in him, that he would make everything all right…

He turned back to Harakhte and nodded wearily. He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again it was with a gasp of surprise as he threw his head back and breathed in deeply. He lifted his hands and looked at them, as if he had never seen them before. He rolled his shoulders, as if testing his range of motion, feeling out his body.

"Kyou-kun?" Tohru questioned tentatively from where she stood. The eyes he turned on her were hard as polished amber. She said, louder, more assertively, "Kyou-kun." He blinked at her, and his eyes seemed to get softer.

"Tohru," he responded. He shook his head lightly, as if clearing the last of cobwebs from it, and turned to the falcon. "Harakhte," he said.

Hara smiled. "Harsiesis," he responded and put his hand on the cat's shoulder. Harsiesis' eyes half-lidded and he purled softly in the back of his throat. "Riese," Hara said, more softly, then pulled Harsiesis against him and wrapped his arms around the cat. "I've missed you," and it was no longer the man talking, but the god inside him, and this was obvious even though the two seemed bound so tightly together as to be indistinguishable.

"And I you, brother," Harsiesis responded, returning the embrace. They parted, Riese pausing to touch Hara's face. "I have returned, and I will not leave you again." Hara sighed with contentment. Riese turned and looked at Seth, who seemed to be immensely amused by their little display. He lifted his lips in a snarl and he felt Hara move beside him so that they faced their foe together. A few steps forward and then they broke into a short run until they came to the edge of the river and leapt lightly across it.

-

_Beware_… Apep had said. _Beware when you face Seth. When you enter his presence, take nothing with you that you fear to lose…_

Kyou shivered. He had thought that those words were meant to refer to Tohru, and he'd tried to keep her out of it as much as he could, but as he passed over the river something whispered, and when he glanced over at his wrist- in an almost automatic gesture, brought on by years of consistent, paranoid repetition- his heart seized in his chest to see that his wrist was bare, and only a soft brush of black and white dust against his skin, as it drifted down to land in the water of the river, even acknowledged the fact that any such thing as a bracelet of beads had ever clung to that appendage; as if the life and sanity of not only the wearer, but everyone he knew, had never depended solely on its existence.

Harsiesis screamed.

Seth smiled.

-


	11. God of Life and Death

"'_I know the god who dwelleth therein.'  
Who is this?  
_'_It is Osiris.'  
_…_Praise be unto thee,  
O Osiris, the Lord of Eternity,  
whose forms are manifold, whose attributes are majestic."  
- **The Book of the Dead**_

-  
11  
God of Life and Death  
-

Yuki was dreaming. It was a remarkably odd dream, involving a cat that asked him politely would he please get up because they really did have to fight now which was most decidedly difficult to do with him lying down like that. It struck him as odd because, in Yuki's experience, cats were not particularly polite creatures.

He tried to stand- unlike most cats he knew, Yuki always tried to be polite- but found himself unable. He apologized to the cat and asked if they could possibly postpone their altercation as he was rather indisposed at the moment.

The cat's eyes started glowing and he bared his teeth and bit Yuki on the hand as he said in a far ruder, but infinitely more familiar voice, that they didn't have _fricking_ time for the _damn_ rat to _feel_ like it, he had to fight _now_.

Yuki felt his lip curl in irritation, but it wasn't physical and his body seemed distant. _This_ cat, he knew. He tried to get up again but still found himself unable to move. He responded to the cat that if it was in such a hurry it could find something _useful_ to do instead of just standing there and yelling about it. Oh, but he forgot, cats were _not_ useful, just loud and stupid…

The growl that issued from the feline in question certainly didn't feel like a dream. It rumbled through him and he could feel it in his bones.

It was the kind of thing that one would think would wake them from a dream, if indeed the dream they were having _was_ a dream.

"_It is a dream,"_ a voice said, _"but you are not asleep."_

Yuki tried to frown but found his body again strangely unwilling to comply with movement. _"How is that?"_ he asked. _"I feel like I'm asleep."_

"_Not asleep,"_ the voice responded. _"Dead."_

Well, that was nonsense. _"I most certainly do _not_ feel dead."_

"_And how did you imagine death to feel?"_ Yuki got the distinct impression that the voice was laughing at him. _"I can assure you cousin, you are dead."_

Yuki felt suddenly cold. What was going on? Where was he anyway? _"Who are you?" _

"_Who are _you_?"_ the voice echoed back. _"Osiris."_

Yuki was confused. _"Who is Osiris? Are you Osiris?"_

"_The time is near."_The cat lashed its tail._"Rise, if you wish to save them."_

"_We've been through that already. I can't."_ Yuki frowned._"Who needs to be saved?"_

"_Him,"_ the voice said. _"And the others."_

"_I thought you said I was dead?"_ Yuki responded. _"How can I save anyone?"_

"_Death stops nothing. Life continues. Life is a cycle, death merely a step in it. Know this. I have this power. You have this power."_

Well, as far as mysteriously voices went, this one was not particularly helpful. He thought he heard a sigh, and then it felt like someone touched him on the forehead, between his eyes, and suddenly he could _see_, see everything, things he never thought he could see… It wasn't like being in an airplane or looking down from a building at people, but rather that he was right there with them, with _everyone_, as their lives happened to them. Thousands, millions, of faces flashed before his eyes- men, women, old, young, dark skinned and light, eating, sleeping, talking, doing millions of tasks in millions of different places, different _times_, and suddenly some of them looked familiar… Shigure, Kyou, Tohru… _Tohru_… And he yelled at Osiris, _"STOP!"_ Remarkably enough,he did.

Yuki reached out to the image of Tohru, and almost as he formed the thought _What is happening to her now?_ he suddenly knew, and that fed back into what had happened to him, and suddenly he remembered everything- even more, he _knew_ everything. He knew why Harakhte had done what he had done, and suddenly, seeing it again, he knew what was wrong with Ayame when he had seen him in the desert.

"_Seth,"_ the voice of Osiris said.

"_Seth,"_ Yuki repeated, _"and Horus. This is for Horus…"_

"_Yes."_

He glared at the voice- he wasn't entirely sure how he accomplished such a thing, seeing as it was rather hard to glare at something that had no physical form- and said, _"It was your problem. Why did you drag us into it?"_ The question he really wanted to ask was, why did you drag _Tohru_ into it, but the voice answered him once for both.

"_It was not I. It was not chosen to be you. And it _is_ your problem, more than you know. Harsiesis brought your family into this, but you cannot blame him either. It was not _his_ fault, when the people fell away from the old religion. They forgot the power of what they had worshipped, and though a few always remembered, they were never enough. Not enough… to hold against Chaos. So perhaps Chaos brought you here, and you can lay your censure there without any misgivings for he loves the bitter taste of blame."_

Yuki shivered. The voice _showed_ him as it told him, and he wondered how such power had ever _allowed_ itself to be forgotten.

The voice shrugged. _"The people choose. It is their right. Their choices may not be correct, or wise, but they choose. Else they would not be the people- only beasts." _

As if in answer to Osiris' words a shudder ran through him- and not just through him, but, it seemed, through _everything_, through the very fabric of existence. Something in him _woke_ at that moment, and suddenly he blinked. Blinked real eyes that weren't part of a dream, and his eyes focused and he was looking up at rock, he was lying on rock, and he could hear physical voices.

"_Horus is before Seth,"_a voice said, and it didn't _feel_ like Osiris, but rather like the cat from his dream. _"The boundary is passed.The time is near. Rise."_

"_I can't,"_ Yuki said, but he tried and found he could twitch the fingers of his right hand. The arm wouldn't rise, and he couldn't do anything else, not even turn his head. _I'll be able to, _he thought, _but not soon enough._ He could feel an urgency pounding at him, pushing him to move faster.

Osiris unexpectedly soothed Yuki's urgency. _"Peace. All is a cycle. If not now, then in the next passing of the circle will it happen."_

Yuki grit his teeth. _"You were the one who was after me to get up."_

" _Not_ _I.__ Harsiesis. Have peace, and you will achieve your goal. And if you find yourself in need, do not forget you have allies." _And with those words, Yuki suddenly felt a furry back under his fingers.

The soft squeaking of rats filled his ears, and he would have smiled if his body was listening to him. _"Seth,"_ he thought at the creatures. _"Poison."_ They moved all around him, and abruptly one bit him on the arm. _"Ow,"_ he thought, but he could feel more of his arm now. _"Alright, try that."_ They swarmed thicker, burying him with their bodies, and a sudden but welcome pain shot through him from numerous, sharp little teeth. He gasped, his back arching, rats pouring off of him as he sat up. He was shaking, from pain and nervous energy and perhaps the last shreds of the paralyzing poison Seth had immobilized him with, but he could move now, and he turned his head to look around the room.

Ayame- _no, Seth_- was standing near him, his back to Yuki, looking down, and Yuki followed his gaze to see Kyou and another man- _Harakhte_- standing on the near side of a river. As he watched, Kyou fell to his knees screaming. Tohru was across the river and she was screaming too, shouting out Kyou's name in terror, running toward him, to help him, only to stop on the bank of the river, and look across in sorrow. She looked around desperately for a way to get across, but Yuki's attention returned to Seth.

He had to defeat Seth somehow. Seth was the key, the one running this show, and if he could somehow…

"_No. Horus must defeat Seth. That is the way of things."_

Yuki's expression was one of contempt. _"And what, I sit here and do nothing waiting for that stupid cat to get it together? He _asked_ for my help, remember?" _

Osiris seemed to waver, but repeated, _"That is the way of things. You were brought here to restore this way."_

"_No one asked me if I was interested in restoring any ways,"_ Yuki responded, getting down from the altar and stepping firmly toward Seth. _"He is my brother,"_ he said softly, and suddenly Yuki wasn't sure if it was him talking or Osiris. _"I would not wish harm upon him."_

He felt Osiris stir, and a power filled him. His hand rose, apparently of its own accord, and when he looked at it he could _see_ power gathering, running like purple light through his veins. _You have this power,_ Osiris had said. _The power of life and death; the power of the cycle…_ A lambent light shone from his eyes as he smiled. Taking the last few steps, he came up behind Ayame, and grabbed him by the wrist.

Seth turned to glare at him from Ayame's eyes, but Yuki only tightened his grip. _"Brother,"_ Osiris lamented, sorrow filling him. Yuki raised his other hand and placed it on Ayame's shoulder. The snake hissed at him.

Eyes glowing, Yuki opened his mouth, and Osiris commanded, "Awaken. Remember."

-


	12. Awaken, Remember

"_They shall see me. I shall see the gods…  
__They shall reach out their hands to me.  
__I shall stand up.  
__I shall be master of him that would subject me to restraint.  
__They shall open the holy paths to me, they shall see my form, they shall listen to my words."  
__**- Book of the Dead**_

-  
12  
Awaken. Remember.  
-

Apep sighed. "This has ceased to be even mildly amusing," he said standing up. "I fear I shall have to go in search of Seth. Perhaps I will find his death more pleasurable."

"Stop! Wait," Momiji called desperately, appealing silently to Thoth for ways to entertain the dragon.

_Entertain the God of Darkness? Personally, I'm surprised you've lasted as long as you have,_ was Thoth's frank opinion.

_Lot of help_ you_ are! _Momiji growled, throwing himself at Apep's retreating back. The dragon turned, eyes blazing, to block him without any apparent effort. Momiji fell to the floor, and Apep reached forward to grab him by the throat and lift him up eyelevel with the dragon.

"You seem most intent on dying, rodent," Apep hissed at him.

Momiji shook his head, gasping out, "Ha'ri, I can't let you kill Ayame. You… you wouldn't do that." He brought his hands up, desperately grasping at the dragon's arm. "Please, Ha'ri…" he whispered.

Apep suddenly released him, falling to his knees, hands going to his head, and Momiji thought for a moment that he'd reached Hatori. But no; it hadn't been him. Pausing for a moment, he heard it too, the two words rumbling through him with the force of a typhoon.

_Awaken. Remember._

Thoth shivered. _Osiris_, he said, and Momiji shivered too.

"Osiris is awake? That's good, right?" He glanced over at Hatori.

-

_Awaken. Remember._

Shigure woke up. He blinked. Other than that he couldn't seem to move…

"Sensei?" Hatsuharu was leaning over him, looking worried.

"Haru," he said; or tried to say- he didn't get much farther than "haa." His mouth didn't seem to want to work properly, and he felt dangerously weak. Kagura knelt beside Haru and offered Shigure water from a canteen. Just beyond her Shigure saw one of the curs from the village watching him; it thumped its tail against the floor when Shigure looked over. He flexed his fingers, feeling returning to them as if they had been numb for a very long time. He raised his arm, slowly, as if for the first time, like a newborn, Haru helping him to sit up. He took the canteen in his hand, the modern object looking ridiculously incongruous in this setting, and drank from it. _Or rather_, he thought, glancing down at his outfit, _perhaps _I _am the one who is out of place…_

"Shii-san?" Kagura said, looking at him earnestly. He tried to answer her, but something was preventing him…

_Seth_, Anubis hissed, and Shigure felt his body tense as the god seemed to stir suddenly. His hands went to his head as he shook it slowly, denying. _Not_ _this_ _again.._. He remembered Anubis' annoying voice in the back of his head, and the moment when he had been overcome. After that, the oppressive presence of something slowly smothering him…

_Anubis? _he thought. _Was it Anubis who tried to suppress me, shoving me aside? No. He possessed me,_ Shigure mused thoughtfully, _but, I felt someone else... it was someone else… _And as he thought this, the god responded, anger and betrayal suddenly rising like bile in Shigure's throat.

_Seth!_ Anubis' voice was dark and furious. _Seth, traitor! He promised! _

Shigure had no idea what the god was talking about. He felt a surge of power from Anubis, and suddenly the golden, snake-headed bands that twined around his upper arms seemed to explode with heat against his skin, burning with an inner fire, and Shigure realized what Anubis was referring to when he cried out, _He _bound _me! That untrusting serpent._

Feeling Anubis fighting against the bonds, Shigure couldn't help but think that the action was useless. His body sat up, free of instruction by Shigure himself, or Anubis he was certain, and turned toward Haru and Kagura. Kagura was watching him warily and Haru eased back into an easy crouch, ready to move should it be necessary. The cur lifted its lips, growling at him softly, the fur along its back standing straight up. Shigure looked at the dog, an idea forming.

_You thinking what I'm thinking?_ he asked Anubis.

He could almost see the jackal's ears perk up. _Yes! Try that. It is I who am bound, not your powers._

Nodding to his internal passenger, Shigure reached out to the dog. It lifted its ears, still growling in a low and threatening manner. Kagura glanced at the animal, then back at Shigure as he stood up. His body moved, taking a step forward hesitantly, trembling as both Shigure and Anubis fought Seth's control. The cur's growl deepened as it lunged at Shigure suddenly, biting at his arm.

"Shii-san!" Kagura exclaimed, confused as she shooed the dog away from her cousin. The dog dodged her, lunging at Shigure to bite him again.

"Wait a minute Kagura," Haru said, looking back and forth between Shigure and the cur. "I think…"

"Sss…Seth," Shigure managed to hiss out between his teeth, falling to his knees as Seth's divided attentions couldn't quite hold up his control under Anubis' furious assault.

Haru's eyes narrowed, and Kagura seemed to get it too. "Hathor," she said, turning to her cousin, and he nodded. Expecting resistance, they moved in concert; Kagura, eyes lighted with Taueret's red strength, darted in. Shigure's hands came up, meeting her, to fend her off, but the real attack came from Hathor, blue-white light coming from his hands as he snuck behind Shigure to grasp him by the arms, right over those deceptive gold bands, blue fire burning them into molten pools in the sand.

Almost as soon as Seth's constrictive hold had vanished, Shigure screamed, the sound doubled as Anubis echoed him, the pain from his arms roaring through his mind. He couldn't think, his skin was burning, the fire spreading through him like it was doused with oil, and growing as it moved, filling him, as Seth let his displeasure be known… Relief came- his brain seemed to shut down, refusing to process pain. He opened his eyes to see Kagura kneeling before him, her eyes screwed shut in concentration and her hands to either side of Shigure's head. _Taueret?_ Anubis asked, surprised.

His brain still muzzy, Shigure asked, _Taueret is a healer?_

_No, a protector,_ Anubis clarified. _I have never felt her powers, but she can shield one from pain. Taueret?_ he said again. She seemed to answer him; Shigure didn't hear what she said, but Anubis grew still for a moment, as if listening, and then brightened.

_What did she say? _Shigure asked, curiosity piqued now that his attention was not consumed by pain.

Anubis did not answer for a moment. _She says she hopes for my compliance in the fight against Seth._

_Seth… _

Shigure sat up shakily. "Ayame," he said. "What happened to Aaya? And Haa-san…"

"We don't know," Kagura said softly, withdrawing her hands from Shigure's temples. The pain spiked for a moment, before the wards she set in place caught it and shunted it aside, and Shigure flinched.

"Sorry Sensei," Haru said softly.

"No." Shigure turned to him. "Thank you. _I'm_ sorry, for…" He frowned. "…Whatever I did earlier. I don't remember everything exactly, but I seem to remember making a fool of myself."

Kagura huffed. "No more than usual, Shii-chan," she murmured. He turned a sardonic glare on her. Smiling, she threw her arms around him. "We were worried about you," she confessed.

Haru nodded. "The others went on ahead." He indicated the mouth of the cave. "We stayed behind to prevent a rear attack. And to keep an eye on you."

Shigure nodded. There was an inordinately large number of animals sitting on the sand outside of the cave. Jackals, boars, and other desert creatures lay about eyeing each other warily. He noticed the other of the pair of dogs from the village loping easily toward them over the sand. It came and greeted him, turning to its partner to greet the other dog warmly as well. "I see the army has decided to stand down?"

Haru narrowed his eyes. "_Something_ is happening. I think it's just moved to another level. Almost like this world doesn't matter anymore. Not to the outcome of the battle anyway."

They all shivered slightly at Haru's words, and Shigure tried to push himself to his feet. He still felt so weak… Haru and Kagura hooked their arms under his shoulders, helping him up. "Thanks," he murmured, and the trio started off down the dark passageway in search of the rest of their family.

-

_Awaken._

"Nii-san?"

Ayame barely looked up at the sound of the voice. He straightened the collar of his shirt and glanced over at the child standing in the doorway. His brother… what was his name again? Frowning delicately, Ayame returned his attention to his reflection. "What is it?" he said, his voice short, annoyed, bored. He flicked a speck of dust off his sleeve and then suddenly fixed the younger boy with a pointed look as something occurred to him. "Aren't you supposed to be up at the House?"

Yuki- yes, that was his name- shrank back slightly. "I…"

"Never mind," Ayame said loftily, cutting him off. "You'll have to tell it to someone else, I'm running late." He swept his coat up from the chair where it waited for him and proceeded to parade out of the room.

_Remember. _

Ayame stopped. Something… wasn't right. He turned and looked at Yuki. Yuki… Yes, Yuki, but something wasn't right… He raised his hands and looked at them. He wasn't the one in high school, Yuki was… His eyes narrowed as he regarded the child in front of him before returning his eyes to his hands. Ayame traced a finger along the scar on the back of one hand that he'd gotten only two months ago, when he'd stuck himself rather viciously with a needle in an absentminded moment. If he was as old as he remembered, Yuki was older than the child before him; not only was he in high school now, he had moved out of the main house and was staying with Shigure. Looking up at the child, Ayame stepped away from him. "What is going on?" he whispered. "Who are you? You are not Yuki."

The child's face screwed up as he fought back tears. "Nii-san," he whispered brokenly, holding out a hand to Ayame. "You never want to play. You never want to be with me." The tears spilled out, and Ayame reached out to him reflexively.

"Yuki." The snake brushed the tears from his brother's face. "I'm sorry, Yuki, I never meant…"

He flinched away as the apparition's expression suddenly grew dark. "I hate you!" Yuki screamed. "I always hated you, and I always will!" He beat wildly at his brother as Ayame tried to reach out to him.

"Yuki," the snake pleaded. "Yuki don't." But he eventually gave up the battle, running outside and calling for Hatori.

He found the dragon standing just outside, smoking languidly. "Tori-san!" he called, running to him and pulling at his arm. "Come quickly! There's something wrong with Yuki."

Hatori turned toward him, but instead of coming inside he locked eyes with Ayame and said in a voice filled with disgust, "You killed him."

Ayame dropped his hands, going white as he stared at Hatori. "I…" he started to deny those words, but found that he couldn't. He fell to his knees, his hands going to his chest as his heart felt like it would stop beating. "I… remember," he whispered, the sickening truth of the memory filling his mind. "Tori-san," he said desperately, "please, go! Help Yuki. I…" He glanced down at his hands, stained a sudden red. "I can't…"

_"Ayame."_

A voice was calling him. A voice he didn't know… He looked up, toward it, the horror of what he'd done still on his face. "I… What do you want?"

_"Ayame,"_ it called him again, and now he could almost see a man standing there with glowing eyes. _"Ayame, awaken. Take hold. You have much power, and if _you_ do not fight Seth, there is no chance." _

Confused, Ayame started to ask the man who he was, when darkness enveloped him suddenly, cutting him off from the man, and it seemed that he awoke from a dream.

-

"Ha'ri."

Someone was calling his name.

"Ha'ri! Please…" A hand grabbed his shoulder, shaking him.

That _was_ his name, wasn't it? He was a little fuzzy on that point…

Yes, that was his name. He remembered… "Momiji," he said softly. Momiji called him that.

"Ha'ri!" The voice was excited now. The hand on his shoulder darted up to touch fingers against his face, brushing hair out of his eyes. He opened those eyes and looked up into the worried brown ones leaning over him. "Ha'ri?" his charge asked again, urgently, when he didn't answer.

He nodded. "Momiji." There wasn't anything else to say… Except… He turned his face against the cool ground. "Momiji," he said quietly, helplessly.

Momiji threw himself down across the dragon, wrapping his arms around him. "I was so worried about you Ha'ri! You were scary," he confided. "Even Thoth thought you were scary, but I knew you were still you!" He smiled, brightly, trustingly, and Hatori turned, taking the rabbit in his arms and holding him close.

"Momiji," he said again, whispered softly, all the words he couldn't say merged into that one.

Apep stirred groggily in the back of his mind and Hatori wildly thrust Momiji away from him. The rabbit looked up at him, hurt, as Hatori stumbled to his feet. "Momiji, run," he said. "Get out of here."

Momiji shook his head firmly as comprehension dawned on him. "No. I'm not leaving you."

"Momiji…"

_You._

Apep's voice suddenly filled Hatori's mind, deafening him. Hatori fell to his knees hands going automatically, uselessly, to his ears.

_Osiris speaks and you think you can defy me?_ Hatori's eyes glowed suddenly with dark fire as Apep's power flared in him, and Momiji, taking a deep breath, threw his arms around the dragon's neck.

"Ha'ri," he whispered. "Fight him Ha'ri." He held on tightly. "I know you can."

_You are insignificant. You think you can stand if it is not by my will? _Hatori's knees went out from under him and he collapsed to the ground, Momiji curled against his chest. _I have had enough of this. I will destroy Seth for his impertinence._

Hatori opened his eyes wide suddenly, his hands moving to take Momiji by the shoulders. "No," he said flatly, his voice firm, tolerating no opposition. _Ayame…_ Ayame trusted him. Momiji believed in him. He would _not_ betray them…

Apep scoffed. _Your denial means less to me than the lives of insects. I will destroy Seth._

Hatori's eyes narrowed. _If I am so insignificant, then why are you still talking about it? Just do it already._ He braced himself for the god's onslaught, but felt a peace. There was only one person he listened to, who could command him, and it was not this upstart of a god. _His_ god was more powerful… and his family was worth more than whatever Apep wanted from him; more than his own life.

Silence.

There was an almost blessed silence in his head, and Hatori opened his eyes. Momiji's arms were wrapped around him tightly, the rabbit's head tucked under his chin, his eyes clenched shut fiercely as mumbled words tumbled from his lips like a prayer.

"Haa-san!"

Hatori jumped as he heard Shigure's voice calling him frantically. He sat up to see the dog, along with Haru and Kagura, coming toward him. Momiji, realizing something was happening, shook himself out of his trance and blinked at Hatori worriedly.

"Ha'ri?" he whispered.

At almost the same time, Shigure rushed over and dropped down beside him. "Haa-san," he said again, his eyes searching Hatori's face.

The dragon listened, but his passenger was silent. "I… I think he's gone." He raised a hand to rub his face in disbelief, but Apep remained silent. He looked up at Shigure. "You?"

Shigure rolled his eyes. "Anubis is easily persuaded. Seth was the problem." Hatori nodded to that, rubbing his arm, noticing the burns on Shigure's.

"Yes," he said, resting a hand on Momiji's head as he looked up at Haru and Kagura. "Seth."

-

His head snapped back with such force it was a wonder his neck didn't break, and Ayame blinked and shuddered. His gaze leveled and a thrill of joy ran thorough him as he saw Yuki standing in front of him, holding him by the wrist and shoulder. He breathed deep, gasping breaths, as if he had run a great distance to get here, and as his gaze was drawn by his surroundings he looked around wonderingly.

"Yuki," he said to his brother. "What…" But suddenly his body wasn't his own anymore, and he threw off Yuki's grip, sending his brother staggering back against a stone altar behind him.

"Fool." Ayame's mouth formed the words, but it was not his voice that came from his mouth. "Have you learned nothing in all this time, Osiris? You _cannot_ stop me!"

Ayame watched, confused, as his hand gestured without his consent, and suddenly a pair of cobras rose from the ground near his feet and glided hissing toward Yuki. The forefront of the pair struck, snapping forward faster than eyes could follow, Yuki its intended prey.

"STOP!" Ayame screamed, every fiber of his being reaching out to the animal, demanding that it turn aside in its attack, and, amazingly, it did, listening to the voice of the one who spoke to its brethren.

Pain filled Ayame suddenly, and a voice in the back of his head, and all of a sudden he thought he remembered what was going on. That voice… it had come to him before, though never as loud and angry as it was now.

_Just as much a fool as the others I see. I had hoped that you had more sense, but as it seems I was mistaken BE STILL and do not bother me._

Ayame felt the command, felt it try to force his mind back into sleep. But his dream was fresh in his mind, Yuki's blood on his hands. If that had not happened yet, and he saw his brother from the corner of his eye, then there was no way he was going to let it happen. _You have much power,_ the dream voice had said to him. What it meant by that, Ayame had no idea, but if it said so, he was game for believing it. _No,_ he told the voice in his head. _Stop it._

There was a moment of silence, then Ayame screamed as all the power of Seth crashed down upon him.

-


	13. Vengeance

"And Seth shall thunder in the sky and be feared."  
- _Chester Beatty Papyrus_

-  
13  
Vengeance  
-

It didn't remember having a name.

Many, long, centuries it had spent, trapped here, chained to the fate of various humans, their bodies housing it- the vengeful spirit of the cat.

Many, _long_ centuries… Chained to the Zodiac, but never a part of it.

Its anger was a smoldering fire, feeding itself, refusing to go out, growing… Ever growing.

In recent centuries, there had been the other. He came from the west, cast out of his own land, rage calling him to a brother spirit; fury binding them together. And it seemed that the cat was sated for a time, its hatred tempered by the presence of a mind that, while still consumed by anger, was rational.

No longer.

Returned to his homeland, the other was free. Here, the land spoke to him, recognizing the higher power that had ruled it for millennia. Here was his true brother- someone who loved him, cared for him. He no longer conversed with his fellow spirit, trapped in bondage to hatred. The spirit cat felt its anger return full force. Its power. Something still bound it…

But when that last restraint broke- a string of beads shattered, melted away- the cat's power was unleashed.

Kyou staggered, falling to his knees, the fingers of his right hand clutching desperately, disbelievingly, at his bare wrist. He heard Harsiesis scream. He felt, distantly, his body twisting into that hideous shape. He thought he could smell it…

Before, he's always been filled with overwhelming shame when the transformation happened. He'd run… run and hid. Hid from everyone… _don't look_… no one wanted to see him, no one wanted _him_…

"Kyou-kun!"

Tohru's frantic voice filtered into his consciousness.

It occurred to him that, this time, something was… different. No transformation he remembered had ever felt like this. He'd always been in control really; he had been the one who ran. His body changed, but the spirit of the cat never took charge of the body it had made. But now…

Maybe that was why he could smell it this time… It was so strong…

In a way that had in recent days become too familiar for comfort, he could feel that his body was not under his control anymore. It moved, crouching, leaping forward, toward the prey visible to the spirit's intent eyes: just beyond Ayame, crouched despairingly with his back to the cat, head buried in his arms as he cried out in pain, just beyond him… was…

Yuki.

_HIM_.

The spirit _screamed_… hatred, betrayal, rage- thousands of years it had _simmered_, waiting for this…

And pounced.

-

They ran through the darkened passages, Momiji leading the way, the soft light of Thoth glowing from his hands. Shigure paused for a moment to catch his breath; Hatori glanced at him but he motioned for his friend to not worry.

"Momiji," Shigure called. "Put out the light for a moment and look ahead. Can't you see it?" Everyone paused and looked, and sure enough, as the light faded they looked forward to see… light. An odd light, it streamed weakly down the passage, escaping from a doorway there ahead.

"Almost there," Haru grunted, and started running again, Kagura already ahead of him.

The last one through the door, Shigure felt the difference as soon as he passed that portal- it felt he had entered a different _realm_. The air was permeated with the scent of fear; a smell Shigure would have attributed to Seth's power if he hadn't looked up, over Haru's head- Haru who'd come to a crashing halt right in front of him- and seen the massive bulk of the cursed spirit of the cat as it came down on top of Yuki with a wild shriek. Shigure's fingers on Haru's shoulder tightened reflexively, but all of them stood paralyzed with a fear that was more ingrained than real- all of them except Kagura, who ran forward shouting Kyou's name as she came to stand with Tohru on the bank of the river.

"NO!" Before anyone could move, a blast of power caught the cat right in the side and sent it flying across the cavern to smash into rock. Seth- _Ayame?_- stood shakily, breathing heavily, as the cat regained its feet and sprang again only to meet the power of the chaos god head on.

Shigure blinked and looked at those around him. "Momiji?" he said, but the rabbit nodded, already ahead of him.

It was Thoth who turned and glanced at the dog. "I will protect the queen."

"The river…" Shigure continued. They were walking forward now, toward it, breaking into a run. Haru, in front, stopped suddenly to keep from tumbling into the water.

"I'm on it." Hatori knelt beside the water; placing a hand directly over its surface he brought the hand down and, in an effort to escape him it seemed, the water retreated, pulling back and recoiling to the point that the riverbed lay empty for several meters to either side.

Shigure glanced at his friend with a raised eyebrow, but how and why came later. They crossed the dry river- its bed was shallow, though wide- and Shigure glanced up to assess the situation.

The smell was almost unbearable; he willed himself not to think about it as he looked around. The cat spirit had its teeth set in Seth's arm, but the god's power, manifested in a metal guard along his forearm, prevented any damage. With a whispered, "He is _mine_ to kill," Seth raised his other arm and touched a finger to the cat's face, right between the eyes. It was merely a touch, but the sheer divine power behind it flung the cat like a rag doll, crushing the creature to the ground like a beetle under a heel. Yet the cursed cat of the Zodiac was no beetle; the creature gained its feet again with a snarl. Suddenly, and Shigure had wondered where he had gotten to, Harakhte leapt on the creature, pinning it to the ground momentarily. Kagura was beside him, they were talking about something or Hara was calling to his brother, their voices indistinct, and Shigure's attention returned to Seth.

Hatori had already started to climb the side of the stone altar, and Shigure hurried to catch up with him. He glanced behind briefly to see Haru and Momiji flanking Tohru, who seemed more interested in what was happening to Osiris than anything or anyone else; the three of them moved around the other side of the altar to find a different way up.

-

"Harsiesis!"

Kyou heard Harakhte's frantic voice, but couldn't answer. He was also wondering what had happened to the god, since Kyou could really use his help at the moment. Mentally gritting his teeth, the cat turned his attention back to wrestling control of his body away from the cursed spirit. It seemed impossible… Especially since Kyou wasn't sure he even had the right to expect such a thing to _be_ possible. Didn't this body exist to serve as a vessel for the cat's hatred? Wasn't he the cursed one? Hadn't he lived his entire life with this knowledge?

_That is why he will not listen to you. _

Kyou started, feeling the presence of Harsiesis beside him suddenly. _What?_ was his only response.

Riese turned and grappled one-handedly with the cursed spirit, wrestling the cursed cat into submission so that the body, now home to three conscious entities, lay still. _You do not think you have the right… No, you do not think you have the _power _to command this spirit. _Riese's eyes were like bright points of light in Kyou's mind. _That is _why _you cannot. You have listened too long to those who tell you things to hurt you. _Riese snorted. _I have known this spirit far longer than any of them. They do not even know the power it is capable of- centuries have passed since it was free of the fetters of my presence and could act without any chain once the restraint was removed. _

Kyou's hand went instinctively to his wrist. _You mean the damn thing used to be _worse?

_Yes. _

He hesitated. _And… not even Akito knows about it. How bad it can be. Not really._

_Yes. _Riese paused. _I remember others who bore your curse in the past, among them those who could command the spirit, force it to their will of a sort, or at the least suppress it voluntarily. _He reached out a hand and took Kyou by the shoulder._ Brother, you bear a curse, but that does not lessen the strength of your own heart. _

Kyou hesitated again. _I am not strong._

_That is not truth. You resisted me, here in my homeland, under _my _sun, where my strength is greatest, until the very last. Such an act would take great strength of the soul. _

He looked away. _The damn rat's stronger than me._

_Osiris' strength lies in the earth, not the sun. It is different, but not greater. _

Kyou froze. _Not… greater? _Was that something that was even possible? _So Yuki's not stronger than me and I can tell this damn spirit to get the hell out of my face if I want to? _He snorted. _Yeah right. _

Harsiesis sighed. _This is going to take awhile if you persist in disbelieving me, and there is little enough time. _

_Time… _

Kyou didn't stop to think, he just turned his head to see what was happening, and it was only afterward he realized that through the process he had resumed control of his body.

That realization distracted him from his original intent, since Kagura latched onto his neck almost immediately after he opened his eyes. He raised a hand and looked at it distantly, the soft skin and slender fingers, and then Harakhte took the hand in his own. "Riese," he said urgently.

_Kyou, _Harsiesis said, just as urgently, _Hara needs me, to defeat Seth. I must go to him. Remember what I told you. _

"But..." was all Kyou could say before his hands rose, of their own accord, to take Hara's face in them, and as he stared intently into the other man's eyes he felt something leave him. Something, or someone…

Harakhte's head snapped back when Harsiesis joined with him- one soul, whole again after years too long to count. He gasped and collapsed forward, shuddering, his eyes glazed over as he gagged, convulsing. As if finding his voice for the first time ever, his head came up and he shrieked, the high proud scream of a hunting falcon, and his body seemed to explode with feathers as he transformed.

Kyou had to raise an arm to shield his face from the golden feathers that seemed to surround him. He felt Kagura, kneeling behind him, grip his shoulder and gasp. He looked up and had to himself suck in a breath of sheer amazement. The falcon and the great cat were joined together again, a giant sphinx with the head of a falcon, a griffon, stood before them. Kyou glanced over to the others to see if they had noticed, but what he saw there stopped him from crying out to them, and all his excitement fell into tatters at his feet.

Tohru had gained the top of the altar. She ran to Yuki and threw her arms around him desperately, their lips meeting in an anxious, loving kiss.

-

When the cursed spirit of the Zodiac leapt upon him and tried to crush him to the ground, Osiris was understandably confused. Horus was an ally; no attack was expected from that quarter. Yuki, however, was understandably resigned. Neither of them were particularly ready for the attack, and Yuki felt the cat's claws cut into the bare skin of his chest. That help should be found in Seth surprised them both; it gave Yuki hope, that perhaps his brother was able to resist the god, somehow, but Seth's words- "_mine_ to kill"- effectively removed that hope.

Having sufficiently deterred the cat, in his eyes, Seth turned and wrapped long fingers around Yuki's throat. Yuki's hands came up automatically, to pull at that fierce grip, but he didn't really entertain any hope of winning. On any regular day, he could beat just about any member of his family, no contest. But Seth was _strong_, and slightly crazy, which added to his strength, and Osiris wasn't much of a help. Actually, Yuki was wondering what had happened to Kyou- he was far more acquainted with the cat's dense persistence than Seth, and he knew _that_ hadn't been enough to stop him.

Again help came from a surprising source. Shigure and Hatori came up behind Seth and, while the dragon broke Seth's hold, Shigure pinned his arms behind his back. Seth hissed in annoyance; he fought his way out of Shigure's hold easily.

"Are you alright?" Hatori asked Yuki, looking at the slashes on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he assured the doctor, "but… watch out!" he warned as Seth came up behind Hatori. The dragon managed to duck the blow, turning to grapple with an enraged Seth, seizing the god by the forearms.

"Traitors," Seth hissed, glaring darkly at Hatori. "I offer you everything and you turn on me!"

"Not I, traitor first!" Shigure's eyes were red; Anubis spoke. He came to stand beside Hatori, rubbing his arm where Seth had thrown his against the rock. "First betrayal! You did not trust me," the jackal protested.

"With good reason," Seth shot back. Without waiting for a reply, he threw Hatori back against Yuki, then backhanded Anubis, causing him to fall to the floor. "You worms. You think you can stop me? Your power is nothing to me!" He seized Yuki again, eye wild with hatred. "Meet your final end, Osiris," he hissed; a flick of the wrist and a long, slender knife appeared there- he pointed it straight at Yuki's eye and drove it forward.

And faltered.

Seth's eyes blazed with impotent hatred as the knife fell from suddenly nerveless fingers. He took an uncertain step backwards then fell to his knees. "Yuki," Ayame whispered, then screamed, curling into a ball on the ground, his face a mask of pain.

"Nii-san," Yuki said softly, dropping down beside him.

A wild shriek, like that of a great bird of prey, sounded through the cavern, and Yuki glanced up reflexively, his eyes drawn, like everyone's to the spectacle that was… "Horus," Osiris breathed, almost disbelieving, as fire erupted all around them, filling this space with _light_.

"Osiris!" Isis called; he stood and caught her as she flung herself at him. "Osiris, my love," she whispered, her fingers touching his face, followed by her lips. "My love, how I worried for you." He stroked her hair comfortingly.

"I see."

Osiris turned and glanced distractedly at Hatori, who stood behind him, but wasn't really listening to what the dragon said, his attention drawn instead to Seth as the god regained his feet, a murderous look again in his eyes.

"I see it now. It must end differently," the dragon continued. Slowly he knelt and retrieved the knife from where Seth had dropped it. "Horus returns, after years beyond count." He stood and walked between Osiris and Seth. "That alone is a sign." His eyes were dark, black, pure, as he turned and faced Seth. "I, for one, do not wish to be bound to this song and dance forever. And I'm still rather vexed with you, Seth." And with that, Apep turned and, grabbing Osiris by the arm, pulled him out of Isis' embrace and toward himself, thrusting the knife into Osiris' stomach.

Yuki's eyes flew open wide in shock, his hand came up to grab incredulously at Hatori's shoulder; he opened his mouth to question and a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of it as his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.

-


	14. Horus Upon His Throne

"_I lie down in death.  
__I am born, I become new, I renew my youth every day…  
__I am Horus who dwelleth in his divine Light.  
__I advance towards the boundaries of heaven.  
__Horus is upon his seat. Horus is upon his throne.  
__My face is like that of a divine hawk.  
__I shall see Osiris."  
__**- The Book of the Dead**_

-  
14  
Horus upon His Throne  
-

Despair was an emotion the cursed spirit of the cat understood, and when Harsiesis left him Kyou found himself alone with the vengeful spirit. It was strange to think that before, Riese had always been there, even though the god's spirit had been sleeping as it were. Kyou stood mental eye to mental eye with the monster that had always been a part of him; that he's learned to fear and loathe before he'd learned anything else in his life.

But if there was something he'd learned even before that, before he'd even thought of himself as a person- and maybe he'd learned it again a little better recently- it was that a person didn't exist alone. _We've got to help_, he said.

The creature's eyes glowed. _Kill. HIM. _

Kyou frowned. He'd never really talked to anyone who'd wanted to hurt Yuki as much as he did; everybody _loved_ that damn rat.

The spirit bared its teeth. _Yes… _it hissed. _Kill. Revenge… _

_But, _Kyou looked at the spirit intently, _do I hate him because _I _hate him, or because _you _do? _

It reared back, shocked. _Kill. Hate. Betrayal… forgotten? _

_No. _Kyou shifted uncomfortably. He tried to look away, think about something else, but the only thing he could think of was Tohru. Tohru… kissing Yuki. _No, not forgotten._ He closed his eyes and, taking a deep breath, gritted his teeth. _It'll hurt Tohru. I… don't want that. _

A feeling of incredulity. _What… this feeling? _It sniffed, inhaling deeply._ …Love? _It pulled away from him, flinching from this thing it had long forgotten, and curled up confusedly at Kyou feet. _Why? How? Curse… makes us hated. Hatred returned. Is only way. To survive._

Kyou shook his head. _No. _He reached out a hand hesitantly and put it on the creature's forehead. _We're not going to kill anyone. _It snarled defiantly, but fell subdued under his touch. Kyou felt a thrill of power pass through him. It was listening to him?

The spirit looked up at him, confusion written on its face. _Do not understand, _it moaned. _Love? Is not… possible. _

Kyou sighed. _No…I guess it's not. _

He blinked, and he was back in the real world, Kagura looking at him worriedly. He smiled at her distantly, looking to see where Horus had gone.

"Kyou-kun," Kagura pulled at his arm, trying to get his attention to tell him something, but he didn't listen. Scanning the room, he froze when he saw a horrified Hatori kneeling over a body…

"Yuki?" he murmured, getting up, running toward the others, but, more importantly, "Tohru? Where…"

A shriek of pain and fury and Isis fell upon Apep, her fingers like claws. Thoth pulled her off the dragon, holding her comfortingly as Kyou and Kagura arrived at the group, but everyone took a step back as Horus landed in a swirl of feathers, taloned paws scouring the stone beneath his feet.

Horus cocked his head and peered down at the body of Osiris, keening softly in the back of his throat.

Hatori knelt in horror and shock, but he shook his head and it was Apep who slowly stood and faced Horus, no regret on his face.

"I did what had to be done. You know this, rival mine." He threw his head back defiantly, looking up at the golden griffon. "This is bigger than the two of us. There is no room for enmity, petty no matter how critical it is to my blood that you perish. No, this is above all gods. Our ignorance and refusal to accept that the world changes around us has led us here." He gestured around him. "This spectacle has chained us, and we have allowed it. Even I became ensnared, and I refuse to be _anyone's_ puppet. There had to be a change in order to break free, and while I desire my blade to rest in _your_ gut," his lip curled predatorily, "to thwart Seth's desires answered all factors- the opportunity was handed to me and I have changed the script we danced to, I have repaid Seth for presuming to order me, and," he grinned darkly, "I have still hurt you." He inclined his head to Horus mockingly.

"_Indeed." _The voice of Horus sounded in all their minds as he lowered his head to examine Apep face to face. _"You are finished here, dragon of darkness. We will meet again elsewhere, in the nightly journey." _He blew his breath on Apep, and the dragon crossed his arms before his face as an expression of distaste twisted his features at the sensation. But the breath of Horus accomplished its errand, and Apep's cruel expression melted away, leaving Hatori free of him.

Hatori fell to his knees beside Yuki, his hands going immediately to the wound, trying to staunch the blood that no longer flowed, to press against Yuki's neck feeling for a pulse… There were tears on his face as he slammed his hands against the ground in frustration. Shigure came up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"_Peace, cousin," _came Horus' voice. All eyes turned to him as he closed his eyes, leaned down close to Yuki, and called, _"Osiris." _

-

Someone was calling his name.

Yuki turned toward the sound but he didn't see anyone, so he turned back toward his journey. The road ahead was dark, and he couldn't seem to remember where it was supposed to lead, but behind him there _was_ no road. So, not really any point in going back.

_Osiris._

There it was again… Yuki turned around looking for the source of the sound. His name… He paused. That wasn't his name…

"_It is my name," _Osiris whispered in his ear. _"It is your name." _

Yuki rolled his eyes. _"Yes, I remember _you_. And your amazingly unhelpful non-logic."_

"_You have truly passed into my realm," _Osiris observed. _"Perhaps you will find my words of more use to you now." _

"_Your… realm?" _Yuki frowned. He looked around again, but didn't see anything other than the smoky darkness that surrounded him.

"_Death is my realm."_

"_So I'm dead again?" _Suddenly continuing down the road before him didn't seem like such a good idea. Yuki glowered at the darkness in the absence of his companion's face. _"Thanks, you always bring me _such_ good news." _

"_Know this- my power is your power." _

"_What power?" _Yuki demanded. _"The power to die!" _

"_And to live." _

Yuki paused. _"You said death was a step in the cycle." _

"_Yes."_

He frowned thoughtfully. _"How do I go back a step?" _

"_There is no back. Only forward." _

"_Then what's the point…" _Yuki continued, but Osiris interrupted him.

"_Do not think the path you see is the _only _one open to you. There are many ways to go forward." _He could have sworn he felt Osiris wink at him. _"As one who has spent a great deal of time here, I will tell you some of this realm's secrets. You have taught me much in our time together, I will return the favor."_ Yuki felt himself turn, facing back the way he had come. _"The trick," _Osiris whispered, _"is not to think 'back,' but to think 'forward.' As long as you know that you are moving forward, you can move in any direction you wish. And is this not moving forward? You cannot go backward, for every moment changes you. But you can go forward, as a new person, and still end up in the same place you were before, can you not?" _

Yuki had to smile at the god's circuitous thoughts. _"Crafty," _he admitted. _"But… what did I teach you?" _

"_You awoke me to it first, but I have been watching your companions as well and you all have it. Something very powerful; something that not even Seth, in all of his twisting thoughts, could have taken into account. Hope, and faith in each other. And, even greater, love." _

"_Love?" _Yuki's eyes went distant for a moment. _"Is that something anyone ever _truly_ feels?" _

"_You have it." _

Smiling slowly, Yuki turned and started down the path, moving forward.

-

It had been several minutes since Horus had spoken, and it didn't seem like anything was happening.

"Yuki," Hatori murmured.

"My love," Isis sobbed softly.

Kyou sucked in a deep breath and suddenly realized he had been holding the last one. "Dammit," he growled. He stalked over to Yuki and glared down at him. "You damn rat!" he shouted. "Get up!"

Yuki inhaled suddenly, moving all at once, his head tilting back as his chest rose, his eyes blinking and his hands coming up to cover his stomach as he swallowed. He pushed himself up on one elbow; raising his other hand he looked at the blood that covered it, but the wound in his stomach had vanished.

"Yuki," Hatori said pleadingly, but Yuki raised his hand in a halting gesture and shook his head.

Isis came and knelt beside him, taking his face in her hands, tears still on her cheeks. "Oh, my love," she murmured.

He smiled at her fondly. "Isis, love, you know I would never leave you for long."

She nodded. "Truly I know this, but every time hurts me more than the last."

He brushed the back of his fingers against her face, but then returned his thoughts to business. He wiped his bloodied hand on his already stained kilt and seemed to realize with an absent frown and a shiver that that was the only garment he was wearing. Yuki rolled his eyes and started to push himself to his feet, but a hand on his elbow helped pull him up and he stood, surprised, facing Kyou. The cat looked away; taking off his jacket he thrust it at Yuki. Surprise evident on his face, Yuki nodded and accepted the garment. Slipping it on, he took a step forward only to stumble slightly. Kyou caught his arm again, Yuki's hand grabbing on to him automatically as his legs faltered.

Regaining his footing Yuki looked at Kyou, but the cat looked away. Yuki released him and turned to Horus. Locking eyes with him he said, simply, "Ayame."

Horus' eyes closed solemnly, and he opened them to look at Yuki again. _"I can remove Seth. However, Ayame has fought him most resolutely and Seth is insidious in battle. He may have inflicted damage that is not mine to undo." _

Yuki's eyes flashed as he stood toe to toe with the god, prepared to fight him for his brother, when a purple light lit his eyes. "Peace," Osiris said. "I will handle it."

Horus nodded. He turned to where Hathor, joined by a softly snarling Taueret, stood guarding Seth who, at the moment, didn't seem to be presenting much of a threat. Ayame knelt, shivering slightly, his arms wrapped around himself, the serpents Seth had called to him curled around his body protectively, eyeing all other creatures with suspicion. Osiris came and stood before him; Horus bent his head and let his breath cover Ayame gently. Ayame's head shot up and he inhaled deeply as his eyes flew open wide. Osiris knelt before him and took his face between his hands, the snakes parting to allow the god near.

-

Seth was incensed.

At the moment, his antagonism mostly extended to Apep, but a much easier target presented itself in Ayame and he didn't hesitate to vent his anger. _You think to defy me! _he growled at his host. _Your hesitation cost me everything, and still did not accomplish what you desired. _

Ayame stared ahead vacantly, hopelessly. _Yuki… _He hadn't been able to save his brother. He hadn't…. he couldn't…

_No, _Seth hissed coldly. _You could not. So just give up now, why don't you? _He reached his hands out and pressed his palm to Ayame's forehead, seeking reentrance, but a warning hiss caused him to withdraw his hand. He glanced down to see a cobra curled around Ayame's head, reared and hissing, hood spread, over Ayame's forehead- like the ureaus of the Egyptian crown, the cobra that defended the kings of Egypt. _What is this? _Seth's eyes flashed in annoyance.

_Nii-san, _a voice called and Ayame flinched.

_Yuki? _He looked up, looking around. _Yuki, I'm sorry, I tried… _But the shape that walked toward them was not his brother.

_Osiris, _Seth hissed in contempt. He gestured to the ureaus. _This is your work. _The cobra hissed at him.

_Yes, _Osiris replied. _You and I have unfinished business brother, but it does not need to involve these ones- that is what Apep showed us. _He paused, and Yuki seemed to step out from behind him. Osiris fixed his gaze on his brother. _Horus calls, Seth. Even you must obey. Here, I will escort you. _He took Seth forcefully by the arm, and both of them vanished.

Yuki reached his hand out to Ayame. _Nii-san, _he said, letting his fingers brush against his brother's skin.

Ayame stared at him, disbelieving. _Yuki? But… you… _

Yuki rolled his eyes. _Ask _him_ about it sometime, _he said, gesturing at where Osiris had stood. _It's not like I understand what's going on. _He took Ayame's hand and pulled him to his feet, smiling at him. _Let's go. _Ayame nodded.

-

"Nii-san."

Ayame blinked, then looked around. Yuki was kneeling in front of him, just like in his dream, and he reached out to pull his brother against him. "Yuki," he murmured. "I thought… and he tried to… and I tried to stop him, but I wasn't sure I could…"

"Hush," Yuki said softly, raising his arms and tentatively embracing his brother in return. "It's over now."

"_Indeed." _Horus fixed his eyes on each member of the group in turn. _"I think it was time _we _were leaving." _Taueret, Hathor, Thoth, Anubis, and Isis nodded in response. Horus leveled an eye at Anubis. _"You as well?" _

Anubis looked properly chastised, in that way only canines have truly mastered. "Yes," he said quietly. "I was wrong to listen to Seth." He narrowed his eyes resolutely. "I will not do so again."

"_It is well," _Horus said and, throwing back his head, he keened once, then left the body he had occupied and Hara's familiar form dropped to his hands and knees, gasping from the intensity of the experience.

Kyou, Yuki, Hatori, and Ayame watched as around them the rest of their family bid farewell to their gods. At some parting thought from Isis, Tohru squeaked and blushed furiously.

-

The sun was high and bright in the sky as Kyou went in search of Hara two days later. He tried to dislodge the bundle of fur hanging desperately from his shoulder, purring madly, but the cat wouldn't leave him alone. This cat, and many like him, had been waiting at the village when they had returned from that night when Horus had been reborn, and more kept coming out of the woodwork. Hara was ecstatic; apparently there hadn't been a cat in the village in over a thousand years. Kyou glared at his passenger again; he could have continued to live without the creatures… but according to Hara this was a sign that they had succeeded.

Kyou found who he was looking for standing in the temple of Horus, gazing up at the statue. "We're ready," he said as he managed to finally detach the cat's claws from the cloth of his shirt.

Hara turned to him and smiled. "Of course, you are eager to return to your home."

Kyou snorted. "Yeah I guess that's part of it." He rubbed his wrist, a reflex action it would take a long time to rid himself of, if it ever happened. "So, how are things with you?" He knocked his knuckles against his head lightly to emphasize what he meant.

Hara smiled widely, something he'd been doing a lot lately. "Never better, and that is the exact truth. Thank you." Kyou shrugged noncommittally, but Hara came and put his hands on the cat's shoulders. "No, _thank you_. Without you, all of you, this would not have happened. Everything has happened to fulfill all my wildest dreams and more."

Kyou shrugged again, uncomfortably. "Yeah well, it's not like you gave us much of a choice."

"I suppose that is true." Hara smiled secretly, looking for a moment like his old self.

"And it's not like we didn't figure out a few things ourselves too," Kyou mumbled.

"True as well," Hara responded softly. He gripped Kyou's shoulder, his eyes shining. "Brother, may you see always a large cat, the sign of the god's highest fortune," he said with a grin, "and may you not _be_ one." Kyou snorted and Hara's grin widened. He turned toward the door abruptly. "Come then. If you are ready, I will take you home."

_Home… _Kyou paused a moment and turned to look at the golden statue of Horus. A glint in one eye caught his attention- it was a piece of silver, shaped to look like the moon. He narrowed his eyes, then turned and followed Hara out into the sunlight.

-

Yuki stood near the plane, watching as the villagers helped Haru and Shigure clear the last drifts of sand away from the wheels, giving it an amused look.

"You find something humorous?" Hara came up beside him.

Yuki glanced over at him. "I distinctly remember thinking I would die before I let you fly me anywhere ever again."

Hara laughed. "Oh? So."

"Yes," he said. "Though I feel more confident with your recent return to a higher level of sanity. Should we call you Horus now, Harakhte?"

"I suppose." He tilted his head back and let the sunlight wash over his face. "Though I think it will take some time before I remember to answer to that name. Then again…" He rested a hand over his heart. "It seems _impossible_ that I should ever forget to."

Yuki nodded.

"When you return, be sure to give my regards to Ra," Hara said after a moment, looking sidelong at Yuki. The rat stiffened, but nodded. With a parting smile, Hara went to start up the plane.

_Home… _Yuki thought. He shivered. Things were going to be different once they got home. Very different.

-


	15. Everlasting is the Daylight

"_You have changed me by your love."  
_- Egyptian love poem  
-  
"Who can say what eternal truths are preserved in the mysteries of the ancient faith?  
'_I am yesterday, today, and tomorrow,  
__for I am born again and again.  
__I am he who comes forth as one who breaks through the door;  
__and everlasting is the daylight which His will has created_.'"  
- Amelia, _The Ape Who Guards the Balance_

-  
15  
Everlasting is the Daylight  
-

It was a nice day. The air was clear and neither too cool nor too hot. His birds came to him, eager for his caress, and Souma Akito eagerly anticipated the return of others who would grovel for his attention. It seemed it had been a long time since the one called Harakhte had taken his family from him. Akito frowned. Too long… But he _had_ promised to teach them. _That_ would be most interesting, and though he had been loath to let his Yuki go with them Harakhte had seemed very desirous of his presence. And maybe the boy would learn something…

A commotion outside the door called his attention away from such contemplations. He stood, prepared to go and see what it was, to punish whoever dared disturb him, when the door opened. Hatori entered. "Akito-san," he said, bowing.

"Ha… Hatori?" Akito stammered, taken aback. Occasionally Hatori would come to him without being called, but there was a look in his eyes… one that Akito had never seen before. "I see you have returned," he continued in an attempt to maintain the upper hand. "Where is…" But he didn't need to ask, because Shigure and Ayame entered just behind Hatori, bowed also and stepped to the side.

Kagura entered then, bowed, murmured her respectful, "Akito-san," before also moving to the side, the performance then repeated by Hatsuharu and Momiji. The six of them stood flanking the doorway, three to each side.

Akito stood watching them, speechless.

Kyou was next.

Akito's lip curled at the site of him, but Kyou walked forward and raised his hand imperiously; Akito, shocked, remained silent.

The cat's eyes flashed. "I am Horus," he intoned, his voice level. "I come to avenge thee, O Osiris." He held Akito's gaze but his chin rose and he gritted his teeth. "Osiris, whose word is truth." He turned then to Yuki, who stood now in the doorway. "I am thy kinsman Horus; I have fought on thy behalf."

Yuki met Kyou's gaze, nodded, and then locked eyes with Akito. "Stand up, O Horus," he said firmly, "for thou art counted among the gods." He walked forward and Kyou stepped to the side to let him pass. "I am thy kinsman Osiris." He held Akito's eyes. "I lie down in death. I am born, I become new, I renew my youth every day." His head came up. "I shall be master of him that would subject me to restraint."

"What is this nonsense you speak?" Akito snarled at them, his anger a bluff to cover the very real fear he suddenly felt.

Yuki cocked his head. "You sent us to be instructed, did you not? Hara-san taught us many things; this is only a part of what he taught."

_Damn that Harakhte, _Akito thought, but suddenly the falcon was driven from his mind as Yuki walked nearer to him. Akito retreated from him, until his back came up against the wall and he stood watching with belligerent trepidation as Yuki advanced on him. There was a look on the rat's face… the same thing Akito had seen in Hatori's eyes… or the _lack_ of something… It was _fear_… There was no fear in Yuki as he approached the head of the family, continuing until he was mere inches away. Akito's breath quickened in anxiety, but Yuki only took the other man's face in his hands and leaned up to kiss his forehead.

Akito jerked away, staring at Yuki in absolute shock. Yuki took a step back and returned Akito's stare levelly. "It is a heavy burden," he said softly. He held Akito's eyes as he continued but he seemed to be talking to himself, or to someone who was not there. "Beasts have no right to choose. But people choose whom they serve; it is their right. Their choices may not be correct, or wise, but they choose." He blinked, as if returning to the present place and time from a great distance. "They choose," he repeated, and, lowering his eyes from Akito's, he slowly dropped to his knees before his god.

Behind him, the others knelt as well; Kyou also. Akito stared at them, dumbfounded and dazed. He started shaking uncontrollably, falling back against the wall behind him as his legs went out form under him. "Get out," he hissed at them. He struck out wildly at Yuki, a glancing blow to the shoulder. "Get out!" he screamed, curling up on himself. "Hatori!" he cried softly.

Yuki stood and stepped to the side as Hatori came forward, then joined the others as they left.

-

Kyou was the first one out the door. In an odd twist on another day not so long ago, Tohru was the one waiting for them at the gate; they had decided that she did not need to be present today.

_Tohru…_ Kyou felt his heart contract.

A hand came down on his shoulder, and he turned without thinking to level a punch at the person.

Yuki caught it and turned it away easily. He narrowed his eyes at Kyou. "That was weak, even for you."

"You damn rat!" Kyou's eyes blazed and he threw another punch followed by a kick.

The fact that Yuki blocked them all, with increasing ease, only angered him more, until Yuki grabbed him, spun him around so that he was facing the gate and Tohru, and hissed in his ear, "_Talk _to her." He shoved Kyou away from him and the cat, stumbling, turned to stare at him incredulously. Yuki crossed his arms uncomfortably. "What you saw…" He cleared his throat. "That was Isis. Not Tohru." He glared at Kyou. "Talk to her." With that he turned and left.

-

Hatori shut the door behind him and leaned against it, sighing deeply. He glanced up to see Ayame waiting for him at the end of the hallway, and he made his way soft footed toward the snake.

They retreated to Hatori's rooms where Shigure was waiting, sitting on the porch smoking. Hatori sat down beside him and, gladly taking the offered cigarette, raised it to his lips for a long pull. He sighed again and seemed to relax further.

"How is he?" Shigure asked softly.

Hatori shrugged. "About as we expected. I don't think he's realized yet exactly what Yuki meant, and when he does I think it will unnerve him even more." He sighed.

"Well, you'll never be out of a job," Shigure said darkly, and Hatori glared at him. Shigure grinned. "Sorry, I can't help it. The gallows humor seems to be a lasting side effect."

A sudden silence descended around them.

"Do you think…" An uncharacteristically quiet Ayame hesitated before continuing, "that there will be… lasting effects?" He glanced at Shigure, then Hatori.

They were quiet for a minute, before Shigure turned and smiled broadly at Ayame. "Ne Aaya, I made it up!"

Hatori snorted. "Yes, don't you remember? He's always been like that."

"Tori-san! What a horrible thing to say!" Ayame gazed at Shigure appraisingly. "Is it true, though," he added thoughtfully.

"You too Aaya? I'm crushed!"

"Oh Gure-san!" Ayame, restored to a more normal level of buoyancy, wrapped Shigure in a hug. "I'm on your side," he whispered loudly. "Come now, let us plan a way to help Tori-san feel better!"

Hatori raised an eyebrow at the pair. "I am fine Ayame," he said, ignoring the fact that he wasn't supposed to have heard that comment.

"You are not fine Tori-san." Ayame turned from Shigure to look worriedly at the dragon. "You haven't been the same since we got back. So, Gure-san?" he poked the dog. "Is it not true?"

"It is true," Shigure said, eyeing Hatori knowingly. "He's been even more glowery than usual." Hatori glowered at him, causing Shigure to make a "see what I mean?" gesture. "But I think I know what Haa-san's problem is."

"Oh yes? What is it Gure-san?" Ayame prompted him.

Hatori met Shigure's eyes. "You need to talk to him about it," the dog said to him cryptically.

Hatori paled. "I don't think that's necessary."

Shigure frowned. "It is necessary Haa-san."

"I don't want to think about it," Hatori said softly.

"Why not?" They both jumped at Yuki's voice, turning to look at him, standing, arms crossed, in the doorway behind them.

"I asked Yuki to join us," Ayame said with a grin as he observed Shigure's surprise and Hatori's discomfort.

"Yuki, I," Hatori began, but Yuki cut him off.

"It wasn't you."

"I could have stopped him!" Hatori protested in a rare show of emotion.

"How?" Yuki demanded. "Did you know he was going to do that? He took you by surprise just as much as the rest of us. And, Hatori-san," he dropped to his knees beside the seated man, "I'm fine." He smiled. Turning his gaze out over the garden, he continued. "Apep probably saved the day actually. If he hadn't killed me, Seth would have done it." Ayame flinched. Yuki turned to him. "And I know Nii-san wouldn't want that." He looked at Hatori piercingly. "It was better the way it happened," he said, and Hatori nodded, seeing what he meant.

"I see," the dragon said softly. If Ayame had killed Yuki… He couldn't even think of how that would affect his friend.

Yuki nodded. The four of them sat for a moment in comfortable silence, the Yuki, with a glance at Shigure, rose and left.

Shigure sighed, but glancing at his two friends he grinned. "Well, I'd better be taking the kids home." He touched Hatori's shoulder. "If you need anything…" Hatori nodded. It was very likely that the unique influence Shigure had over Akito would become incredibly important in getting Akito to understand how this experience had changed them. Shigure returned the nod and left.

Ayame took a deep breath. "Tori-san," he said questioningly, but Hatori turned and smiled at him- an uncommon display of emotion from the one he admired, and Ayame returned it wholeheartedly before also departing with a lighter heart.

Hatori sat for awhile, looking out over the garden, long after the cigarette in his hand was nothing but ash. Lasting effects… They might have jested about it in an effort to make Ayame feel better, but the truth was that they had all been undeniably altered by the experience they had had. How much so and how thoroughly it would affect their lives remained to be seen.

-

"Kyou-kun?"

He couldn't look at her. "Tohru…" he managed, but then there seemed to be cotton filling his mouth.

"I'm sorry!" Tohru said suddenly, bowing before him, her hands clenched together.

"For what?" Kyou asked, looking up, confused enough to find his voice.

"I'm not sure," she said looking at him. "But you seemed upset about something Kyou-kun, so I'm sorry for whatever I did!"

"Idiot," he mumbled, turning away and kicking at a stone on the ground.

"Eh?" Tohru exclaimed.

He looked up hurriedly. "I didn't…" But he looked at her, and looked at her, and the words seemed to come out of him, even though he wanted to fight them. "You… and Yuki…" And that seemed to be enough, because she turned bright red and threw her hands over her face.

"I… I'm sorry!" she said, reaching out to him, since he seemed about to leave.

"It's okay," he growled softly, not really seeing her, turned away. "If you want…" He couldn't finish the sentence. He swallowed and tried again. "If you want to… be with him," his voice fell to a whisper, "I… I guess I…" he sighed and finished with, "If that's what you want."

"Kyou-kun?" She sounded confused, but he couldn't look at her. "Kyou-kun, I care about Souma-kun very much," she admitted, and added, with a smile in her voice, "I care about all of you very much! But… but…" He risked a glance; she was blushing again. "But… when I…" She was a fascinating shade of red, but managed to squeak out, "When Isis-sama kissed Osiris-sama it wasn't what I wanted!"

His head came up and he stared at her. She looked at him, embarrassment the primary emotion in her expression, but slowly overtaken with a cautious love. They looked at each other for what felt like a very long time; until Tohru whispered an anxious, "Kyou-kun?"

He swallowed. Took a deep breath. He raised his hand and touched the side of her face- _dear gods… her beautiful face… _She was watching him, wide-eyed. He slid his fingers along her soft skin until he cupped her chin gently. He tilted her head back slightly, and then leaned in close to her. He paused, close enough to feel her breath on his face- close enough for shivers to run all through him- and whispered, "Tohru." She sighed, the soft expulsion of breath like fire against his skin, and he kissed her. She relaxed into the kiss, her head tilting back slightly more, to more perfectly match the angle with his, and she raised a hand to run it though his hair.

Kissing Tohru was like… nothing he had ever done before in his life. There was nothing he could compare it to. Nothing at all… Except he broke it off to try to look at her, see what she was thinking, and _she_ kissed _him_, and suddenly he could compare it because _this _was even better than the first kiss…

"Oh ho, I think we're interrupting something!" Shigure's gleeful voice intruded on his consciousness and Kyou jumped slightly, turning to glare at the dog, and notice that Yuki was standing right behind him.

"Shigure-san!" Tohru jumped also and looked self-conscious as she straightened her clothing, her actions doing more to soothe her nerves than her clothes.

Yuki returned Kyou's glare. "You might've picked a more private place than the middle of the street," he murmured as he moved passed Kyou and the cat blushed. Growling obscenities under his breath, Kyou pushed past Yuki as the rat smiled politely at Tohru, who was still blushing as she stammered out a greeting. Kyou seized her hand possessively, glaring at Yuki again. Yuki raised an eyebrow as Tohru mumbled an apology and followed Kyou as he pulled her to walk with him ahead of the other two as they went home.

Tohru looked at Kyou's hand in hers, then tightened her fingers in his. He turned slightly to look at her and she smiled at him. Her smile… She was like sunshine, eternal, constant- she was the fire that fed his heart. His fingers closed more tightly around hers and he walked slower, moving closer to her. For the first time, the future didn't seem like a dark, sunless place.

-  
-End-  
-  
-O-  
-

* * *

End Notes: Once again, I do not own _Fruits Basket_. No infringement on the rights of those who do is intended by this nonprofit fanwork. All quotes labeled _The Book of the Dead_ are from E. A. Wallis Budge's translation of _The Papyrus of Ani: The Egyptian Book of the Dead_. They are taken out of context to support this story and should not be construed as actually representing the contents of said document. All other quotes, except for the love poem in this chapter, are taken from the books of Elizabeth Peters, which include _Seeing a Large Cat, The Ape Who Guards the Balance, He Shall Thunder in the Sky,_ and_ The Golden One_. These books are part of Peters' Amelia Peabody series and reading them is highly recommended to any fans of Egypt, archaeology, or a good mystery. Again, the quotes used are taken out of context to support this story and no infringement upon the rights of Ms. Peters is intended. Kyou and Yuki's lines in the scene with Akito in this chapter are taken from _The Book of the Dead_. The opening quote of this chapterlabeled "Egyptian love poem" was found on the internet credited to George A. Barton from his book _Archaeology and the Bible_. Wow… It took me exactly eleven months to write this story and post it. It's been quite a ride. There are currently no plans for a sequel. Sorry. Thank you to everyone who took the time to review. Your words are greatly appreciated- more than you know. I hope you enjoyed the story, and thanks for reading! 


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